Activists blame BMC for quietly removing building from 'most dangerous' category, while civic officials state Saifee trust was in charge and failed to vacate it
The building was marked in the most dangerous category by MHADA. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
As long as six years ago, the BMC had predicted that the Hussaini building could collapse - in 2011-12, it was even listed in the C1 or 'most dangerous' category. Buildings listed in this category are supposed to be vacated immediately, but this did not happen. Activists have alleged that, instead, the building was quietly taken off the C1 list, even though no structural repairs had been made, and it had only become more perilous.
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Activists have alleged that the BMC is responsible for yesterday's collapse, as it not only failed to evacuate the building in 2011, but also removed it from the C1 list, thereby ensuring that no action would be taken.
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Activist Afroz Malik, from the Jai Ho Foundation, said, "It was in MHADA's list of dangerous buildings. But when we checked the list of C1 buildings for the year 2015-16 and 2017-2018 the building was not in the C1 list prepared by BMC. This is the BMC's fault, and strict action should be taken against those responsible for the loss of lives."
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"After getting a notice in 2011, many residents were scared. We knew that the building was in a dilapidated condition. The authorities should have inspected the area, then they would have realised that many people had made illegal alterations," said a local resident.
What about SBUT?
In March 2011, the office of the executive engineer of the C1 division of MHADA had issued a notice warning notice for vacation of premises, stating: "During the pre-monsoon survey inspection of your building, it was noticed that some portions of the building are still in dilapidated and dangerous condition, and may collapse at any moment, resulting in the loss of life and property."
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At the time, the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) had taken charge of the building for its SBUT Cluster Redevelopment Project, which covers 283 buildings in total. In May 2016, permission for demolition of the building was given to SBUT. An official from MHADA said, "It was the job of the group undertaking the redevelopment project to shift the tenants and demolish the building."
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