130-year-old South Mumbai building collapse raises questions over MHADA's dangerous buildings audit

A portion of the 130-year-old Draupadi Building in Badamwadi, South Mumbai, which partially collapsed on Friday. Residents had been evacuated earlier, and no injuries were reported

The partial collapse of a portion of the 130-year-old Draupadi Building in Badamwadi, South Mumbai, on Friday has renewed concerns over the safety of Mumbai's ageing cessed buildings after it emerged that the structure was not among the 82 buildings identified as dangerous in MHADA's pre-monsoon audit. No one was injured as residents had been evacuated earlier, but tenants and housing activists questioned how such an old building escaped the audit despite its visibly deteriorated condition.

The incident

Building: Draupadi Building
Age: Around 130 years
Location: Badamwadi, South Mumbai
Ownership: LIC
Incident: Partial collapse
Injuries: None
Why? Residents had already been evacuated.

Why this matters

The collapse highlighted the risks faced by thousands of pagdi tenants living in ageing cessed buildings, many of whom continue to wait for redevelopment while spending every monsoon fearing structural failures.

Missing from the audit

Despite being over a century old, the building was not among the 82 structures identified by MHADA as dilapidated during its pre-monsoon survey, raising questions over the effectiveness of the audit.

Activist questions mhada audit

Mukesh Shah, Pagdi activist
‘How is it possible that a 130-year-old building is not on MHADA's list of dilapidated buildings? What if someone had died? What is the quality of the audit if such a visibly dilapidated structure was not identified?'

Tenant speaks

Sanket Satardekar,
‘Officials from LIC and MHADA had inspected the building and issued evacuation notices before the monsoon. LIC officials told us the redevelopment process is underway. They said rent compensation can be given only after a developer is appointed. Until then, we have to make our own arrangements. How are we supposed to do that?'

Official response

mid-day contacted MHADA for its response on why the building was not included in the pre-monsoon list of dilapidated structures, but no reply was received before press time.

[popcorn number="82" desc="No of buildings identified as dangerous by MHADA" class="Default"]