Tenants reside in 25 of the 41 flats. They, too, are worried about what lies ahead. (Photo by Narendra Vaskar)Two days after the collapse of Tarique Garden at Mahad in Raigad, many of its 41 flat owners and tenants are staring at a bleak future with no clarity on where they will be living from now on.
While the state has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the deceased, it is yet to spell out a policy on how the flat owners will be compensated and whether they will get any state help in rebuilding their homes.
“All that we are getting is verbal assurances of help. My family has been offered shelter for today by a person I know. But we don’t want to wear out people’s welcome. I don’t know what will happen in the days to come,” said 56-year-old Nooruddin Isane, a flat owner.
Isane and his family had spent the last two nights outside the building as the NDRF carried out it’s rescue operations.
Tenants reside in 25 of the 41 flats. They, too, are worried about what lies ahead.
“We are tenants and have no money right now. For how long will we stay at our relative’s place? We want the government to give us something. When the building started shaking, we just fled, leaving everything behind. Now that we have survived, it looks like we will soon die on the roads of Mahad,” said Aaweez Chinchkar.
Irrespective of whether they were owners or tenants, the residents of Tarique Gardens milled around the debris to keep an eye out on the valuables that many had left behind in their flats, as they rushed out when the building started to shake. Many prayed that they could recover some of their belongings that could provide some help in rebuilding their lives.
“Everything is under the debris. At 6 pm on Monday, we had everything, then we lost everything in a moment,” said resident Mustafa Chaufekar, who is wearing the same set of clothes since he managed to escape.
He added that for now, till they get any help, many residents plan to keep changing location every two days. “We will keep shifting from one relative’s house to another.”
The district administration, meanwhile, claimed that it has made arrangements for the affected families to stay at a nearby community hall for the next few days. It, however, added that it is currently not in a position to help the families in reconstructing the building and will wait from further orders from the state government to work out a rehabilitation plan.
When contacted, Raigad Collector Nidhi Chaudhari said, “This is not a natural disaster, this is something that has taken place in a private property. We are trying to help them as much as possible. The government does not have any rental schemes and as most residents were staying on rent, we will try to provide some facilities, like stay and food, for the next 10 to 15 days. But we cannot do anything on a permanent basis. We will seek more help from the government.”
“While many who lost their homes have been accommodated by their relatives, we have provided two halls and some rooms as temporary accommodation to other families… We have asked for a list of people who wish to avail temporary government accommodation so we can make the necessary arrangements,” she added.