MUMBAI: The Naik Nagar housing society, which was constructed in 1975 on collector's land, was first served a notice by the BMC for repairs in 2013. In 2016, the BMC even disconnected water and electricity to the society but the residents refused to vacate it. They got a structural auditor to submit a report that the building was repairable.
Locals from the area told TOI most of those who lived in the building were on rent and paid Rs 8,000 per month while elsewhere in Kurla the monthly rent is over Rs 25,000. "The original tenants of the building did not live here and almost everyone here was on rent," said a local living in Jai Jawan Vasahut, located opposite the crashed building.
Following the crash, BMC staff were seen at the site carrying large boards which stated 'Highly dilapidated building'.
BMC commissioner IS Chahal who visited the site said residents had been repeatedly asked to vacate the building, instead they got a structural audit done by an empaneled auditor, which told them the building was repairable.
"After the building submitted this report to the civic body, it was removed from the dilapidated building list and put under the repairs list," said Chahal.
Nidhi Choudhari, collector of Mumbai suburbs, said the collector's office had not received any redevelopment proposal from the society so far.
This April, the BMC had identified 337 dilapidated buildings across Mumbai. According to BMC data, most dilapidated buildings at 163 are in the western suburbs, followed by 104 in the eastern suburbs and 70 in the island city. This annual survey of dilapidated buildings is conducted before monsoon.
