Weeks after boy’s death, BMC asks Cheeta Camp residents to remove additional portions from their houses

On October 29, a four-year-old boy, Pranav Ashok Mane, lost his life after a slab from the balcony portion of an old building collapsed on him.

“The law suggests that shanties and non-conventional houses in slums shouldn’t be more than 14-feet in height. We are issuing notices to the owners of such unauthorised structures urging them to pull down the portions of their properties that are beyond 14-feet, since it’s risky and may threaten their lives as well. In case they fail to do so within the given time, the civic body will take action against these properties,” said Mahendra Ubale, assistant municipal commissioner.

Ubale said that in the past week, they have sent notices to more than 25 such property owners and by the end of the month, the civic body is planning to send more than 40 notices to multiple owners in the area. The civic officials said several properties are older than 50 years and are currently in a dilapidated condition since they don’t have a strong foundation.

Local residents, however, have questioned the notices pointing out that a major proportion of the residential structures in the entire M/East ward were above the height of 14-feet.

“The BMC should carry out a structural audit of these properties and if they find a structure is strong enough, they can legalise them. Most of the people staying in the slums are from the LIG, and since they can’t afford to set up multiple shanties, they all live together in one structure by making multiple storeys one above another,” said Faiyaz Alam, local resident and president of Govandi New Sangam Welfare Society.