90 per cent Mumbai properties need structural audit

Mumbai: There are nearly 1.60 lakh properties in Mumbai that are over 30 years old, with 90 per cent of these structures in need of an audit for their stability, according to the BMC. The civic body has decided to issue notices to these structures, asking them to carry out structural audit at the earliest.

The move comes on the back of the Bhendi Bazar building collapse just a few days ago which killed 33 people. The BMC has prepared a list of 159,834 properties in the city that need to undertake structural audit. Of these, K east ward (eastern areas of Andheri and Jogeshwari) has the maximum number of such structures at 11,033; followed by P north (Goregaon) with 10,671 such structures and H west (Bandra, Khar) with 10,661 structures.

A senior civic official said, “The BMC has so far received structural audit reports from 6,900 properties whereas audit of more than 13,000 structures is in process. Notices will be sent to the remaining structures, asking them to carry out structural audit on a priority basis.”

According to civic officials, the BMC has assessed data online about city properties that are 30 years’ old.

BMC chief Ajoy Mehta said, “The software consisting of data of buildings, which are more than 30 years old, is ready and will be provided to the ward officials. We are also planning to put it up in the public domain.”

As per the municipal act, it is obligatory on the part of every owner and occupier of buildings that are more than 30 years old, to have them inspected by a qualified structural engineer registered with the BMC.

However, the BMC has received many complaints that some of the structural engineers, in collusion with developers, have not conducted the structural audit properly. There are also allegations that structural audit reports prepared by municipal and private structural engineers vary significantly.

Mr Mehta said, “To allay doubts, we have asked engineers to have a standard set of tests to verify the structural fitness of structures. If the results of municipal and private structural audit still do not match, the decision of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be considered as final.”

Housing expert Chandrashekhar Prabhu said a structural audit for old buildings is necessary, but the BMC should not force people to carry it out.