The Times of India       21.03.2014 

BMC to issue certificates before razing shaky buildings

MUMBAI:
In a bid to persuade the residents of private societies to vacate their
dilapidated buildings, ward offices will issue them a certificate of
occupancy before razing such structures.

“Issuing a certificate
to private societies instils a sense of security into the residents.
Before razing a building, BMC officials note down the number of persons
present there and their names. This, along with a picture of the
building, will appear on a certificate duly signed by the assistant
commissioner of the ward,” said a civic official. The system is already
being followed in P(north) ward in Malad and M(east) ward in Chembur.
This ensures that once a new building comes up after the demolition of
the old structure, the rightful owners get their due and there is no
scope of fraud.

The BMC move comes in the wake of occupants in
private societies showing reluctance to vacate flats even after getting
demolition notices. “Occupants of buildings on pagadi (rent) system get a
rent receipt but no carpet area is mentioned there. We measure the
carpet area in their presence. This is a way to ensure that they were
the actual occupants of the buildings,” said D K Jain, assistant
commissioner, P(north) ward. Vishwas Shankarwar, assistant commissioner,
K(west) ward, said that in case of private buildings the BMC was
restrained from disconnecting electricity and water supply due to a
Bombay high court order.

“We attempt to vacate the buildings
with the help of police,” he said.TOI reported on Thursday that there
were around 593 dilapidated buildings in Mumbai of which only 41
municipal buildings, 125 private buildings and three government
buildings have been vacated. The BMC will provide alternate
accommodation in Mankhurd to all residents vacating municipal buildings.

There are 32,429 buildings above 30 years old in Mumbai and the BMC has
sent notices under section of 353 (B) of MMC Act to conduct structural
audits to 13,779 buildings.

Other than a visual inspection, a
non-destructive test while conducting structural audits of buildings is
mandatory and it includes taking some portions —the core from columns
and beams and sending it for testing in a laboratory.

In some wards, BMC issues certificates to residents of private buildings that have been declared dangerous

BMC takes stock of the number and names of members present and the
picture of the building on the certificate, which is duly signed by the
assistant commissioner of the ward

The BMC certificate provides a sense of security to the residents before vacating the building

BMC will provide alternate accommodation in Mankhurd to all residents vacating municipal buildings.