BMC issues 3-day deadline to raze 3 dilapidated buildings in Borivali society

Mumbai: A day after the 44-year-old dilapidated building in Om Shree Geetanjali Nagar Society, Borivali West, came crashing down, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered razing of three more buildings in the same society that are in poor condition.

The civic body has also issued the society and its developer a three-day deadline till 11 am on Monday to start the demolition drive.

Two years after the building was declared dilapidated and unfit for habitation by the local civic ward office, the structure gave up and collapsed on Friday at 12.30pm, a video of which went viral on social media. No casualties were reported in the incident.

Civic officials said that there are 13 buildings in the compound, out of which, four were declared dilapidated. These include one building on the A-wing that collapsed and B-1, B-2, and B-3 buildings on the B-wing, which are still inhabited by families.

The BMC approached the Bombay High Court (HC) on Saturday, seeking permission to demolish the B-1, B-2, and B-3 buildings, following which the court ordered the residents from the three buildings to vacate their premises in the next 24 hours.

Nivrutti Gondhali, the assistant municipal commissioner said that in 2019, the civic ward office sent a notice seeking a structural audit of the building, following which the property was declared a dilapidated structure in 2020 and a demolition notice was issued.

However, residents living in this building challenged the BMC’s notice and moved to the Bombay High Court (HC) and the case went under litigation.

“We had sent the first notice in 2019, asking the occupants to submit a structural audit report of the building. The first report, it showed that the building is in a dilapidated state, and it needs to be razed. Soon after which, the residents carried out another report which stated that the building was not dilapidated, but it could be repaired,” Nivrutti Gondhali, assistant municipal commissioner, told HT on Friday.

“When there are two contradictory reports, we send a Technical Audit Committee (TAC) for a field survey and the final TAC report confirms that the building is unfit for habitation and needs to be pulled down.

Subsequently, a group of residents approached the Bombay High Court (HC) and filed a petition and the order stated that the residents can stay at their own risk,” Gondhali said, also adding that since the matter went into court before, the civic body needed to inform the HC before taking up demolition drive by themselves.

“We have given the society a deadline till Monday 11am to start demolition of the three buildings. Since this is a private building, society will have to bear the cost of logistics required for demolition. If they fail to do it by Monday morning, then the BMC will do it since we have the court order now,” said Bhagyashree Kapse, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC).

Gondhali said that by Friday evening all three buildings were vacated, and the Mumbai Police have sealed the premises by setting up barricades. He said that water, electricity, and sewage lines have also been disconnected to prevent people from staying in. He also said that all the remaining nine buildings in the compound will be issued fresh notices to submit reports for structural audit as a precautionary measure since this society is nearly 44-year-old.

Meanwhile, residents who are mostly tenants said that they are shifting to their relative’s place. “We have packed all our belongings and are now shifting to our relatives’ place. We have made temporary arrangements to keep our belongings like furniture and appliances at a wedding hall nearby since it is difficult for us to find a place for accommodation in such a short span,” said Vasudev Patel, a resident from the B2 building.

“I have been living in this flat for the past 40 years. Today for the first time I had to shift all my belongings out of the building to another place. For the first few weeks we will be staying at a friend’s place till the time we get another flat on rent,” said Salil Shah another resident.