On August 27, at around 7.45 am, the Shaikh family on the third floor of building B-3/17, Sector 3, Vashi, heard a cracking sound. They looked up to see that a large crack had formed across their bedroom ceiling. They rushed out of the flat, to hear from the neighbours on the floor below that there were similar cracks there as well. A short while later, they found that eight adjoining flats spanning four flours had developed deep cracks and that section of the building had started tilting.
Fearing for their lives, the residents notified the fire brigade and local corporator Divya Vaibhav Gaikwad. The fire brigade asked all the residents to evacuate the building. The NMMC stepped in almost four hours later: Vashi Ward Officer Mahendrasingh Thoke declared the building unsafe for habitation and also pleaded with the remaining residents to vacate the structure immediately.
Some residents moved out with their baggage to the homes of friends and relatives, but many refused to leave, as they had no other place to go. They wanted the civic authorities to provide them with alternative accommodation. But there are no transit camps in Navi Mumbai to house residents displaced due to endangered buildings. Mr. Thoke said the residents could temporarily shift to the nearby Jhulelal Mandir, where arrangements for their stay could be arranged, but the residents protested, asking how long could they stay in such ad hoc accommodation.
Major Singh, a septuagenarian retired member of the defence forces, said, “I with my family have been staying here since 1981. And, even if I shift to a relative’s place, for how long will they host us? The civic administration should arrange for us a proper accommodation where we can move in for the time being otherwise our daily life will be thrown out of gear.”
Another resident said his children were studying in a nearby school, so the family cannot shift far away.
Talking to The Hindu , Belapur MLA Manda Mhatre, under whose constituency the building comes under, said, “I requested the residents to vacate the building as it is unsafe, and assured them that arrangements can be made for their stay. However, they have refused to vacate saying there are no proper temporary shelters provided by the civic authorities, say a transit camp. There are a lot of vacant plots in Navi Mumbai. The City & Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and the NMMC should jointly construct transit camps for residents to use in such dire situations.”
Former corporator Vaibhav Gaikwad said, “As the CIDCO developed Navi Mumbai, it should have made provisions for transit camps. But, it was not done so. As the buildings built by the CIDCO in the 1970s are becoming dangerous to live in now, the CIDCO should allot land plots to the NMMC to construct transit camps for people getting displaced in such a manner.”
Asked whether permission will be given for the redevelopment of the building, CIDCO chief PRO Mohan Ninawe said, “This is not a fit case for redevelopment. The residents have gone in for additional construction without obtaining the requisite NOC from the CIDCO or paying any charges. We will take a decision only after conducting a thorough survey.”
B-3/17, which is near Sai Baba Mandir behind Vashi police station, is one of Vashi’s oldest buildings, built in the mid-1970s. In 2007, after obtaining extra floor space index (FSI), an additional room was added to each flat; the residents say a structural audit of the building was conducted before the FSI was granted. The building was never on the list of endangered buildings in the NMMC jurisdiction.
The writer is a freelance journalist
