BMC declares 619 structures in city as dangerous to live in before the rains

Mumbai: Kurla (L-ward), with 106 buildings, has emerged as the area with the maximum number of dangerous buildings in the city, in an exercise undertaken by the BMC ahead of the monsoon. The BMC has identified 619 buildings in all, which are deemed “dangerous to live in” during the monsoon season.

As part of its pre-monsoon preparations, the civic body has announced 619 buildings across the city as extremely dangerous i.e. C1 category. As compared to last year, the number has come down as the civic body had announced 812 C1 category buildings in 2017.

After Kurla, the highest number of dangerous buildings (51) falls in Ghatkopar (N-ward). F-north ward, which includes Matunga, Sion and King’s Circle areas, has 39 dangerous buildings. Whereas the K-west ward, which comprises western areas of Andheri and Jogeshwari, has 29 such buildings.

According to civic officials, these buildings were declared dangerous after carrying out a structural audit. Later, the civic body sent notices to residents to vacate these buildings immediately. A senior official said, “We send notices under section 354 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, 1888, asking the residents to vacate the premises within seven days.”

“We do a structural audit before sending notices to residents to vacate the building. After this, we disconnect power and water supply of the buildings before demolishing them,” the official said. A structural audit is mandatory for any building, which is more than 30 years old. The BMC has made structural audit compulsory for all old buildings after the tragedy in Dockyard where a 32-year-old five-storeyed municipal building collapsed, killing 61 people and injuring 32 others in 2013.

Every year, ahead of the monsoon, the BMC prepares a list of dangerous buildings. Not all buildings need to be vacated. The buildings are categorised as: C1, C2 and C3. A C1 category means that the building is very dangerous and needs to be vacated immediately. The C2 category is further divided into two parts i.e. C2A and C2B. In case of C2A, dangerous parts of the building need to be demolished. In case of C2B, only major structural repairs are required. The C3 category needs minor repairs.