Getting an abode in Mumbai is not easy; not surprisingly, those who have one are loathe to leave it.
Getting an abode in Mumbai is not easy; not surprisingly, those who have one are loathe to leave it, no matter if the structure they live in is in poor condition. Every year, several such buildings collapse, simply unable to continue standing up any longer; on Tuesday, it was the turn of Sadaf Manzil in Nagpada. The irony is that this very building was declared safe three days earlier by a team of engineers of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
MHADA is supposed to identify buildings in disrepair — and has marked 19,000 so far — and then take corrective measures to put, so to speak, the house in order. Yet, its officers do little more than sticking illegible notices on old and dilapidated buildings and occasionally, transferring some residents to areas euphemistically called transit camps where some people have lived for more than 40 years.
The residents of Sadaf Mahal did not even get that opportunity as they continued to live under the impression there was no problem with their building.
This latest building collapse points to a bigger issue that Mumbai is faced with. Part of the problem lies with the antiquated Rent Control Act that has frozen rents at 1965 levels; many a tenant lives in reasonably sprawling apartment at a monthly rent of less than a meal at a modest restaurant.
Landlords claim that such poor returns discourage them from tending to the building's upkeep while tenants see no reason to do so out of their own pockets. On the other hand, the state government, for fear of losing an important vote bank in the form of lakhs of tenants, has been reluctant to do away with this pernicious law. The result is thousands of buildings which have fallen into disrepair and which inevitably will collapse, leading to the unfortunate loss of life and property.
Perhaps now is the time to bite the bullet — reform MHADA as well as completely overhaul the Rent Control Act. This will also lead to urban regeneration in Mumbai, where decent and affordable living spaces are few and far between. Otherwise, it is almost certain that there will be many more Sadaf Mahal-like collapses in the coming months and years.
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