Notices to bldg tenants to remove illegal extensions

Mumbai: After a 35-year-old woman lost her life and another was injured following the collapse of a portion of an unauthorised structural extension of a rehabilitated tenement (RT) building at Byculla (W), the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board is issuing warning notices to tenants of such buildings in the city to remove unauthorised extensions.
Unauthorised structural extensions have been made by many tenants of such buildings.
On May 28, a portion of unauthorised structural extensions, protruding beyond the original building line on the fifth floor, which were carried out by tenants of the building, collapsed.
Following the incident, officials of the repair and reconstruction board visited the site and instructed tenants to remove unauthorised extensions.
The Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board is now issuing warning notices to tenants in reconstructed RT buildings in its jurisdiction.
"The reconstructed tenement buildings were built between 1980 and 1990 after Mhada acquired rights to the buildings, which became dangerous and reconstructed these buildings. The Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board carries out regular maintenance of these buildings.
There are 388 buildings across the city, but unauthorised extensions have been carried out over the last 10 to 15 years, and some of the buildings are very old.
This particular building, which has 193 residential rooms and 11 non-residential rooms, is also very old. We are issuing notices to tenants of these buildings to remove the unauthorised extensions," said a Mhada official.
"Residents carry out these unauthorised extensions as they are hamstrung due to the small size of their rooms.
But while carrying out these extensions, they do not take adequate precautions," said a Mhada official.
Activist Santosh Daundkar said, "BMC has a dedicated Building and Factory department, which has a designated officer for carrying out action, including removal of unauthorised construction under the MMC Act, and they carry out action accordingly. Mhada also has officials to carry out such action, but they don't carry out any action as required. They only initiate action when an incident occurs. Mhada is lackadaisical when it comes to action against unauthorised construction.
It has to be alert and take systemic action against unauthorised construction."

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