Why do areas like Dongri and Pydhonie continue to be hubs of illegal construction? Why do tenants and landlords prefer shady builders and contractors instead of redeveloping properties through the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA)? The housing authority’s claim that the building that collapsed in Dongri on Tuesday was illegal, and the MHADA Mumbai Board chairman pointing fingers at the underworld for pushing unauthorised construction in B ward, are just one part of the larger murky picture.
South Mumbai’s Dongri, Pydhonie and Mohammed Ali Road are among the city’s several underdeveloped areas, but gained notoriety as the seat of the yesteryear underworld. They are packed with buildings without any space between them, narrow lanes crawling with handcarts, two-wheelers, pedestrians, hawkers and a bustling market.
Many of these wooden buildings are from the pre-Independence period, typically three to four floors high and owned by trusts or individuals. Many house factories, godowns or shops on the ground floor and flats above. Over the years, the flats and shops have changed many hands.
New buildings spring up in places, but this mushrooming is not reflected in the construction applications to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). A senior officer of the civic building proposals department said, “We get a few proposals once in a while, but not many. The area functions on money and muscle power,” the officer said.
Civic officials say a lot of this illegal construction work starts on Friday evening, since BMC is shut on weekends, and goes on till Monday. And, they say, the rot goes deep.
Former assistant municipal commissioner of B ward Udaykumar Shiroorkar, now retired, said, “When I was the assistant commissioner, I had disconnected water supply to one illegal building as per rules and stopped construction. But some staff members of the BMC’s own hydraulic engineers department went in the dead of the night and reconnected the water supply. We had initiated action against the employees at the time.”
‘Nexus between many’
A key cause of problem seems to be that most of these buildings are around 100 years old and beyond repair. A social worker, who was born and brought up in Dongri, said on the condition of anonymity, “Back then, smaller houses of around 180-200 sq.ft. were constructed on small plots. The ones administered by trusts typically housed the economically backward. Construction laws were not as detailed then. And as the buildings got old, the question of who will repair them became more and more serious.”
It all boils down to the nexus between MHADA and BMC officers, structural auditors and landlords, with the tenants caught in the middle, the social worker said.
MHADA’s Repair Board is in charge of repairing and redeveloping these buildings, for which it collects a small cess. The cess is part of the property tax paid by the landlord to the BMC. However, more often than not, MHADA does not have sufficient funds for each building.
An officer from the BMC’s building and factories department said, “Besides, the new rules for intent of disapproval (the first step in getting building permission) are so stringent that most of these buildings won’t be able to adhere to them and accommodate all tenants while ensuring there is money left for construction. Even if they are able to do so, neither the owner nor the tenants have enough money, or are simply unwilling to shell out.”
In such cases, the tenants inform MHADA they are willing to undertake the repairs themselves through a private builder. “They secure a no objection certificate (NOC) from MHADA, after which the builder typically constructs double the number of floors. The tenants and landlord get accommodated, the extra flats are sold for a profit and the construction cost is recovered,” he said.
The building and factories department is in charge of cracking down on illegal constructions, but its staff does not touch MHADA buildings once the authority gives the NOC. Many landlords secure NOCs for repairs, as it is easier instead of redevelopment.
MLA funds
The one financing option tenants do have to is of MLA funds. “But the MLAs also ration funds. The better you know the MLA, the more funds you get,” the social worker said, adding, “The owner gets a meagre rent from these buildings, but he benefits when the tenants change. According to the pagdi system, the owner gets 33% of the deal.”
M.N. Damani, an RTI activist and resident of Kesarbai building 25C, which adjoins building 25B that collapsed, has been fighting for its redevelopment. He said the fear of losing their homes also looms large on tenants’ minds. “When a building is declared dilapidated and the owner doesn’t come forward to redevelop it, tenants get scared that MHADA will demolish the structure. That is why they agree to go for private developers. Besides, most of these trust buildings housed the poor, and there is lack of awareness among them.”
