Mumbai: 100-year-old partially broken Malad building poses threat to locals

PNorth ward officials in MaladWest have partially demolished a 100yearold structure marked for complete demolition putting occupants pedestrians and rail commuters at mortal riskThe threeandahalf storey Krishna Baug comprising eight homes and 10 shops opposite the busy Malad railway station was declared dangerous in 2019 and after several audits was finally marked for demolition in 2021But on February 2 local ward officials pulled down just the residential parts and allowed the groundfloor commercial parts to stayA history of negligenceThe BMC categories dilapidated buildings on a scale of four C1 C2A C2B and C3 C1 entails immediate evacuation and demolition C2A requires dangerous portions demolished C2B requires structural repairs and C3 minor repairsAlso Read Will Mumbai choose to be left high and dryPeople walking in the vicinity of the dangerous structure opposite Malad railway stationBut once a building is declared dilapidated residents often commission an independent audit to try and reduce the chances of demolition The BMC then gets another audit done and if the matter is still contested it is placed before a Technical Advisory Committee TAC whose ruling is finalIn 2019 a Kurla building was declared C1 after which the occupants got an independent audit done which categorised it as not requiring demolitions A few months later it collapsed killing 19 people After this incident the BMC ordered all wards to prepare a list of C1 buildings and pull them down on priorityNo lessons learnedThe resultant audit declared Krishna Baug as a C1 building In October 2020 the BMC asked the occupants to vacate the premises The occupants however got an independent audit done which declared the building as C2B A section of occupants also moved the city civil court where the matter is pending without any temporary relief grantedDue to the contradicting audits the BMC roped in IIT experts who declared the structure dangerous The issue went to the TAC which declared the structure unfit for occupancy and ordered its demolitionHomes demolishedLast month however PNorth ward officials vacated only the residents and demolished their homes sparing the ground floor commercial spaces In the weeks since the commercial occupants have even started repair works to make the remainingstructure usableExperts said the halfdemolished structure is a danger to both occupants and passersby Thousands of people use this busy approach road to the stationOfficialspeakA PNorth ward officer who did not want to be named said action was initiated when Disaster Management got a call about a slab collapse ldquoOn inspection we realised it was a C1 structure so we demolished the dangerous wooden portions on the first and second floors The groundfloor shop owners showed us a structural audit and requested that they be allowed to continue functioning till consent terms with the landlord are drawn up The application is under considerationrdquoOfficials in troubleA retired senior BMC officer midday spoke to was not convinced by the BMCrsquos explanationldquoThese officials donrsquot have powers to demolish portions of a C1 structurerdquo said the retired official ldquoOnce notice is issued the entire structure needs to be pulled down If people start using this as a precedent it will lead to a dangerous situation in the city If this goes to court these BMC officials will be in troublerdquolsquoWhy only usrsquoPradeep Tiwari homeowner who is now living in a rented houselsquoWhen the entire structure was declared unsafe why were only homes pulled down and commercial parts sparedrsquoRaksha Mehta 60 another resident who lost her homelsquoBusiness is not good and the cost of living has gone up We now need to pay rent too At a time when we were looking to save more for our old age we are spending more than earningrsquo