Mumbai: A day after a balcony of the 130-year-old Esplanade Mansion, formerly known as Watson’s Hotel, came crashing down, the BMC on Monday disconnected power supply to the building.
A parked taxi was crushed by the debris falling from the fourth-floor on Sunday evening. The taxi driver Mahendra Yadav, who had stepped out of the vehicle minutes before to drink water, had a lucky escape. The road next to the building was still cordoned off on Monday in case more loose portion fall, and is likely to remain so for the next couple of days.
According to records, a court had provided ad-interim relief from eviction to the building’s owner and tenants, after MHADA declared it as dangerous.Now, MHADA will submit an affidavit apprising the court of the situation and seek directions.
The four-storey building had been declared a dilapidated and unsafe structure by MHADA in 2011, which asked occupants to vacate it. The owner and tenants had refused to pay ₹17.89 crore to MHADA for repairs, following which it was decided that occupants will repair the building.
Umesh Nagarkar, Deputy Chief Engineer, MHADA and member, MHCC, said, “We had allowed them repairs in one phase, following which permission would be given for further renovation, but the matter never came back to us.” A MHADA officer added, “There is disagreement between the owner and tenants due to which nothing was moving. MHADA, BMC and the heritage committee had asked them to undertake repairs at least. What if someone had lost their life yesterday?”
A tenant who declined to be named said said they had complained about the building’s condition, but nothing was done. A similar incident had occurred in 2005, when two people had been killed by slab that had fallen off this building. D.K. Jagdale, Chief Officer, MBRRB, said, “Neither the owner nor occupants undertook repairs.”
Occupants also haven’t approached the BMC Building Proposals department for repair permissions yet, officials said.
Esplanade Mansion was earlier Watson’s Hotel. The Grade IIA heritage structure is one of the world’s oldest habitable cast iron buildings. It has nearly 100 tenants, mostly lawyers, given that it is right next to the Bombay High Court. The land belongs to Tata Trusts, the building is governed by MHADA as a cessed structure and is owned by one Saadik Ali.
In 2013, BMC prosecuted the owner under section 354 of the MMC Act for allowing the building to stand despite being dangerous. The owner filed a writ petition against the prosecution and secured relief from prosecution. In another writ petition, tenant Ashok Sarogi secured a stay on building’s evacuation by MHADA. A final order is pending in both cases.
In a joint meeting of all stakeholders in 2015, it was decided that no portion of the building to be demolished unless permission from MHCC. In the meantime, the building be given propping under guidance of a structural engineer.
However, MHCC records do not show any other application except one in 2011. The MHCC had, in a letter dated April 2011 to MHADA, had said the balconies were to be repaired, keeping the original design of cast iron railing, which had been replaced in some parts. It had called for immediate propping wherever required, and had even appealed to MHADA to increase funding for this building as a special case.
