Sixty-year-old Keshav Javade lives on the second floor of a three-storey building in Andheri. In the last five months, the municipal corporation has served the building authorities with four eviction notices because the structure has become “dangerous” to live in. Residents of the building, however, refuse to move out.
There have been times when a portion of the ceiling has crumbled or a crack in a neighbour’s wall has given residents a scare. Nonetheless, Mr. Javade, a peon who works in a nearby school, prefers to live within the creaky walls that have been his home for 35 years.
“It is worrisome to live in the building where parts of the ceiling collapse at times. But it’s even more scary not knowing whether and when we will have a secure ceiling over our heads,” said Mr. Javade. The residents had been asking the municipality for permission to carry out repairs, but it was being refused, he said.
The building is one of two in a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) colony of eight buildings to have received notices under Section 354 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, under which the corporation can evict occupants of a dilapidated building and demolish the structure. A redevelopment plan which has been underway for more than three years has not made any progress. “A building in the colony has been demolished, but there are no signs of a new one coming up. How can we just leave our homes in the hope that we will get new ones soon,” asks Mr. Javade.
The notices are for buildings classified under the C-1 category which are deemed “extremely dangerous and dilapidated”. Currently, there are 1,236 C-1 category buildings in the city, of which 828 are privately-owned. Last month, the Bombay High Court approved guidelines made by the civic body while dealing with dilapidated buildings. Among others, the municipality is authorised to disconnect water, electricity and gas supply. If residents do not comply within a week of being served eviction notices, police force can be used and demolition can begin.
Whether it is fear of losing their homes or an uncertainty about what lies ahead, residents in most cases prefer to stay on in the dangerous buildings. There are a number of cases of residents having been shifted to transit accommodation devoid of even the bare minimum amenities. In some instances, people have lived in transit camps for more than four decades.
