With the monsoon just weeks away, the short-staffed Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) is yet to release the list of dangerous (dilapidated) buildings, this year.
With the monsoon just weeks away, the short-staffed Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) is yet to release the list of dangerous (dilapidated) buildings, this year. According to its schedule planned earlier, the list was supposed to be made public by May 11, 2016 but now the housing authority has claimed to make the list public on June 1, which is just ten days before the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) expects the monsoons to arrive in the city.
In 2015, the MBRRB came out with a list of 14 most dangerous buildings for residing in South Mumbai, which, Mhada said, will again be reflected in the list this year, as residents have not vacated them in spite of being served notices.
“Out of the 14 most dangerous buildings that made it to the list last year, nearly 10-12 of them will make the list this year as well,” said an Mhada official.
The official further added that the staff crunch that the body is currently facing is just one of the reasons why there has been a delay in announcing the list.
“Administrative protocols further delay the procedure. Even if we prepare the list, say today, we will still require clearance from the state housing ministry which delays the process,” added the official.
The Asian Age had on May 3, 2016 reported that Mhada has only four deputy engineers, two junior engineers and one executive engineer involved in carrying out the annual pre-monsoon of around 16,000 cess buildings in South Mumbai.
According to Mhada’s circular dated March 1, 2016, the survey work is part-time work for the staff in addition to their own duties at their place of posting. For the already short-staffed authority, the survey work seems to be an additional assignment.
Meanwhile, Sumant Bhange, Sumant Bhange, chief executive officer, Mhada’s Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), said, “We will make the list public of dilapidated building public on Wednesday.”
Every year Mhada, in collaboration with BMC, carries out a pre-monsoon survey, in which it conducts a visual audit of 16,000 old buildings in South Mumbai and lists the dilapidated structures among them that are dangerous.
