Mumbai has around 593 buildings in dangerous category

Of the 32,429 dilapidated buildings in the city, 593 are in the C1 category, which pertains to dilapidated or dangerous buildings, according to Sanjay Deshmukh, BMC additional commissioner (western suburbs).

The dilapidated buildings have been classified as C1, C2, C3 and those that are over 30 years old.

According to Deshmukh, in the C1 category, 41 BMC buildings and 125 belonging to private persons have already been vacated. Electricity and water supplies to 26 BMC buildings and 85 private ones that have not been vacated have been disconnected.

The C2 category cover those that require major reconstruction, while the C3 category are those that require only minor repairs. There are only about 106 buildings in the C3 category.

On March 16, dna reported that the civic body had so far issued about 14,000 notices to buildings— dilapidated and dangerous structures, structures that require repair as well as those that have to go for compulsory structural audits.

However, most residents are yet to act on them.

For instance, only 927 private buildings among those that were issued notices have undergone structural audit. The number of BMC/government buildings among them is not available.

"People are often reluctant to vacate buildings even if its structure is in a dilapidated condition, thus risking lives. Many of them have even moved court, delaying the process," he said.

According to records, as many as 817 buildings still require major reconstruction; of these 267 have been granted permission for repairs, but 650 of them are yet to be repaired. On the other hand, several dilapidated buildings that have been vacated are yet to be demolished.

"We are in the process of appointing demolition contractors for the purpose," said another senior civic official.

The recent building collapse in Vakola that claimed seven lives an injured four, highlights the need for evacuating people from dilapidated buildings. Jay Serrao, a Santacruz-based activist said: "The collapse of the Vakola building is an eye opener. Residents in such buildings will hopefully take the BMC notice seriously now."