12 buildings in Kurla to be torn down to avoid collapses

Mumbai A week after a four-storeyed residential building in Naik Nagar society at Kurla (East) collapsed, claiming 19 lives, and injuring 14 more, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to bring down all the dilapidated buildings in Kurla to avert any such incident in the future.

According to BMC data, there are 12 such private buildings in the entire Kurla area that are categorised as a ‘C-1’ structure, which means it is dangerous to inhabit. According to the rules, after a building is older than 35 years, the local ward office sends a notice asking the occupants to submit a structural audit report, following which the civic body decides if the building is fit to reside in or not. Now, the local L ward office of the BMC has said that they have decided to demolish these buildings.

“We have started issuing notices to the occupants to vacate them at the earliest. In the past one week, we have disconnected water, sewage, and electricity lines in four different C-1 properties. All these buildings are 80-100 years old, and their foundations have become weak with time,” said Mahadev Shinde, assistant municipal commissioner and in charge of L ward.

Shinde said that the process of demolition will be carried out in a step-by-step manner. He added that since these buildings are private properties, the BMC must ensure that all the rules are followed. “The process of sending notices to the building is continuous and we do it every year. But since the recent incident we have taken an aggressive approach to prevent any more loss of lives,” Shinde added.

Another senior official of the BMC said that after the sewage and electricity lines are disconnected, the BMC will give time to the owners to file their reply, following which the next course of action will be taken.

“These are private buildings so the BMC doesn’t have the authority to raze them entirely. But we will ensure that the owners take cognizance now. Even we are ready to provide all our amenities to them to help them with the demolition works,” the official said. “We have spoken with a few owners as well and some of them have already appointed a contractor to redevelop their building,” said the official.

The officials stated that due to the pandemic, the Bombay high court (HC) had also issued a stay in demolition works, which is why buildings were not razed in 2020 and 2021.

Meanwhile, the residents of these buildings said that they are confused as to why the civic body listed their property as a C-1 structure. On Wednesday, HT visited six such C-1 properties in Kurla, out of which it has been found that residents were living in two of them, while the rest of them are already evacuated or have gone under redevelopment.

One such building was the Ismail Manzil, located near the Kurla station and just opposite the BMC’s L-ward office. This building is a two-storeyed structure that was constructed back in 1935 and currently houses seven families, which includes one family of the owner and six more tenants. Inside the building there were metal pillars erected to support the structure. The wooden staircase and the railings in the balcony would shake when multiple people walked down the corridor.

The residents state that three years back, a structural audit was carried out. “The condition of our building is good, only the gallery portion on the first floor and the staircases have become weak. It could be repaired easily. We don’t think that there is any reason for the BMC to list this property as a C-1 structure,” said a tenant of this building requesting anonymity.

The tenant further added that in 2019, they carried out a structural audit and submitted a report to the local ward office. “We had also appointed a contractor for repair works. But later, the pandemic started and the process was stalled. Currently, our owners are in dialogue with the civic representatives, and I guess a new builder is being appointed now,” the tenant added.

Another owner lamented the lack of affordable housing in the city and said that they “must take shelter on the streets”.

Meanwhile, when HT visited the Jairaj Bhuvan Building in New Mill Road, Kurla (West), it was found that the building is partially demolished, and slabs and plasters of the building appeared to be on the brink of collapse. Located inside a congested slum cluster, the building is about a hundred years old. Residents said that the tenants were evicted last year after the BMC disconnected sewage and water lines.

“After the residents were evicted, the tenants shifted to nearby chawls. The owners took cognisance of the notice and started redevelopment works but had to stop midway after one of the stakeholders filed a litigation and got a stay from the high court. Now the building looks like an under-construction site,” said Subhash Kadam (72), who lived in the property since his birth and has now relocated to the nearby chawl.

“We are living in fear everyday as concrete slabs and other portions of this building keep collapsing. As the construction works were stopped midway, the foundation of the building became weak, due to which it feels like it can collapse on our huts anytime,” said Kadam.