With two weeks remaining for the monsoon to arrive, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday released a list of 226 dilapidated residential buildings in Mumbai and urged their occupants to vacate the premises. The dilapidated buildings have been categorised by the BMC as C-1, which means they are entirely unfit for habitation. The civic body’s rules also state that if a residential or commercial building is older than 33 years, its occupants will have to carry out a structural audit and submit a report to the authorities. In 2022 Mumbai had 337 dilapidated buildings. According to the latest BMC data, 126 C-1 buildings are in the western suburbs, followed by 65 in the eastern suburbs and 35 in the island city. The H-West (Bandra and Khar) and K-West (Andheri West, Juhu and Versova) wards house 22 C-1 buildings each while the K-East (Andheri East) and T (Mulund) wards have 21 buildings each. The N ward (Ghatkopar) has 17 such buildings and the P-North ward (Malad) houses 13 such buildings. There are only two C-1 buildings in the C ward (Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar) and three buildings each in the A (Churchgate and Cuffe Parade) and B (Dongri and Sandhurst Road) wards. BMC officials said they had issued notices asking the occupants of the 226 buildings to vacate the premises immediately. Of these, 21 buildings have been declared repairable. “The BMC has been repeatedly asking the occupants of these buildings to vacate their premises immediately for safety measures. While several buildings are vacant, there are tenants in some of the buildings. The administration makes it clear that the BMC should not be held responsible if any accident occurs in these properties since the occupants are staying at their own risk,” it said in a statement.
