New Act for quick revamp of dilapidated buildings in Mumbai

Chief Minister takes decision on this at meeting with housing minister, police commissioner, municipal commissioner, and others; policy to be tabled before the Cabinet

A day after the four-storeyed building in Dongri collapsed claiming 13 lives and leaving 10 people injured, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that a new Act would be put in place to give a push to the redevelopment of dilapidated buildings in the city. The decision was taken in a meeting led by Fadnavis on Wednesday when issues around the building collapse were discussed.

The meeting was attended by state Housing Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil; Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, Sanjay Barve; Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi; Congress MLA Amin Patel; Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan and Guardian Minister of Mumbai for the Island City, Subhash Desai.

To be put before Cabinet

Vikhe Patil said that the new Act will be tabled before the Cabinet next week. "Re-development projects in the city have slowed down since over the years builders have cheated people. The objective of the new policy is to push for re-development of buildings and also to build confidence among the tenants," he said. During the meeting, one of the suggestions was to create a bank of 8,000-10,000 transit accommodations on available lands in the city, to shift people staying in buildings categorised as C1 (dangerous and dilapidated).

When asked, Vikhe Patil said there are various stakeholders including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) which will work together to come up with a solution. He added that the new policy would be in place within a fortnight. While the debate over whether the four-storeyed Kesarbai building which collapsed in Dongri was legal or illegal is still on, Vikhe Patil said all the survivors who had been living in the building would be given temporary transit accommodation.

Also read: Building collapse: Dongri a hub of illegal constructions

Patel said the meeting was productive. "Today's meeting was fruitful. The cluster re-development policy with MHADA as the nodal officer is a solution we look forward to. Offering transit accommodation and rent to tenants is a welcome move and for buildings in these areas, cluster redevelopment is the only option," he said.

Tweet talk
Devendra Fadnavis @dev_fadnavis: A new Act will be enacted for redevelopment of C1 buildings to remove all the hurdles/complications. Two-year rent will be given if residents have not been provided with transit location facilities and compulsory cluster development will be done with MHADA as developer

Also read: After collapse, BMC 'notices' other crumbling buildings in Dongri

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