Mumbai: Occupants of 21 high-risk cessed buildings in South Mumbai to be relocated to camps in same area

WITH OCCUPANTS of dilapidated buildings in South Mumbai reluctant to relocate to transit camps in Mumbai suburbs, the MHADA’s Mumbai Building Repair and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB) announced Monday it will provide such camps to the occupants of 21 high-risk cessed buildings in the area itself this year.

Forty-seven occupants of such dangerous building, officials said, will be relocated to transit camps in the first phase, while the 177 others will soon be shifted.

“These (transit) camps are being made available in several places in South Mumbai like Mazgaon, Tardeo, Dadar, Khetwadi, Worli, New Hind Mill, and Israel Mohalla. Occupants (of dangerous buildings) will be relocated to the same old area only for their convenience. Also, if necessary, efforts will be taken to classify the small-sized flats, which are not in demand by the Mumbai Board, as transit camp premises,” Vinod Ghosalkar, the chairman of MBRRB, said.

According to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority, occupants of the high-risk cessed buildings in South Mumbai generally refuse to relocate to transit camps in the suburbs even after receiving eviction notices and this ultimately delays the process of eviction, repairs and demolition of the dangerous buildings.

To avoid such a situation and loss of life and property due to an accident, the MBRRB has decided to make reconstructed buildings available to tenants/occupants of dangerous buildings.

There are around 14,755 cessed buildings under the jurisdiction of MBRRB which are old and dilapidated. These buildings are surveyed every year before the monsoon. This year, 21 buildings have been declared high risk. There are 460 residents and 257 non-residents tenants in these buildings. Of them, 236 residents have made their own alternative arrangements elsewhere, officials said.

“Under the first phase, it is planned to relocate 47 tenants/residents in these transition lanes. The remaining 177 occupants will be provided with flats as per their requirements,” Ghosalkar said.

He added there are several shops, under 300 square feet, which have not been taken by those who won them in lotteries. “These shops can also be made available for the residents of high-risk buildings,” he said.