staying steady on shaky ground

Despite having announced that it will forcefully evict residents living in dilapidated municipal buildings prior to the onset of monsoon,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been unable to vacate most of these properties even as July begins.

Despite having announced that it will forcefully evict residents living in dilapidated municipal buildings prior to the onset of monsoon,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been unable to vacate most of these properties even as July begins.

The BMC had prepared a list of 52 dilapidated buildings of which 43 are residential that need urgent eviction. Of these,34 premises are yet to be vacated,some due to stiff resistance from residents and some due to lack of action on the part of the civic body.

The BMC had decided to forcefully evict 2,000 residents by cutting the supply of water and electricity if they refused to vacate the buildings. The notices were issued on June 1 and a deadline of seven days was given to vacate the buildings.

Tenants resist eviction because the alternative accommodation is usually far away from their homes. Most of them are shifted to the project-affected people tenements in Mankhurd. The list of structures includes six municipal schools and three dispensaries that have been evicted.

The highest number of dilapidated municipal structures is 21 in the E ward,mostly in Byculla. Residents of 11 structures from the Kanjarwada area in Byculla have moved the Bombay High Court after BMC issued a vacation notice to the buildings. The reason given by residents for not wanting to vacate the dilapidated buildings is that the transit camp in Mankhurd is far and will disrupt their daily lives. The High Court had ordered status quo in the matter till the matter comes up for hearing.

Similarly,resistance from tenants of the Gautam Nagar Building number 2 in Dadar has resulted in no eviction till now. Assistant Municipal Commissioner H A Kale said a letter has been sent to the hydraulic engineering department and the BEST to cut water and electricity supply. But no action has been taken. Residents of the building number 36 on Sasmira Road in Worli,too,continue to stay put despite repeated notices.

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