Mumbai: Amidst government apathy, many landlords pray that Fort falls down

Last Saturday after a major fire gutted the BritishEra Kothari Mansion yet another chapter in South Mumbais Fort area came to an end Historian Deepak Rao who until a year ago lived a few kilometres away from this fourstorey structure remembers how the building was once the dugout for officegoers whod head to the Light of Asia restaurant situated on its ground floor to grab a quick chai or have kheema pavA collector of rare books on the city Rao skims through his 1947 edition of the Bombay Street Directory which apart from the iconic eatery also mentions the guesthouse Deccan Lodge Hindu Hotel and other electrical and pharma offices that decorated this structure for over half a century If there was any semblance of their existence it either disappeared in the billowing grey clouds of smoke that engulfed the building or got lost under piles of rubble still waiting to be clearedThe incident at Kothari Mansion is just a sneakpeak into the uncertain future of other structures in the vicinity especially along DN Road also known as the Heritage Mile that are currently in a state of disrepair What is happening to Fort in micro is already happening to the rest of the city in macro The old is making way for the new said an 80yearold longtime resident on condition of anonymity He blames the authorities for ignoring this centuriesold precinct There is no strength lacking to save Fort there is only will that is lacking he ruesV Ranganathan former chairman of Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee MHCC also the honorary secretary of Somaiya Vidyavihar Trust that owns the famed Somaiya Bhavan near Flora Fountain says there is nothing more pressing and urgent than rescuing Fort which falls under A Ward of the BMC from this state of apathy and neglect In Mumbai this is the only part of the city which has got great heritage value Without Fort the city will be characterless he saysPart of Kothari Mansion which was home to the iconic Light of Asia restaurant collapsed after a fire broke out inside the building on June 9Why nobody loves FortThere are two kinds of buildings in the area says city conservation architect Vikas Dilawari One is the grain and the other landmark Grains which are part of the residential fabric of the city play the inconspicuous matrix of the city while landmarks like Rajabhai Tower stand out as they identify themselves and give legibility to the city he explains Outside of Fort several grain structures are now being redeveloped and as they grow taller they end up becoming prominent landmarks too But with Fort being a designated precinct vertical development is next to impossible Hence many developers dont take up redevelopment of buildings here as there is no extra incentive like added FSI etc said a senior official of MHCC on condition of anonymityWhat is however proving to be a major roadblock is that most of the buildings in Fort are tenanted and governed by old tenancy laws under the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act 1947 As property prices began escalating maintenance cost also started increasing but there was a freeze on rent explains advocate Vinod Sampat president of the Cooperative Societies Residents Users and Welfare Association Over the years landlords have made several appeals in court When the Maharashtra Rent Control Act of 1999 came into being the rents of tenanted buildings were increased but negligiblyDN Road is lined with several buildings of heritage valueZubair Botawala one of the trustees of the HIMS Botawala Charities Trust which owns over 30 buildings across South Mumbai and four near Horniman Circle alone says he currently collects a paltry sum of R25000 annually from one building Of this he pays R23000 to the state authorities as tax and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority MHADA as cess I dont make enough to pay my staff let alone spare money to repair my buildings he saysThe problem is compounded by the bureaucratic hurdles including extensive paperwork and permissions required to undertake repairs of buildings in Fort Rajesh Loya and his codirector Jaydeep Mehta who run Techno Group purchased four buildings in Fort in 2002 and have been working towards restoring them in a phased manner mostly out of passion for preserving the architectureRajesh Loya and Jaydeep Mehta who run Techno Group purchased four buildings in Fort in 2002 Loya says bringing down Modi Building 1 and 2 on Nagindas Master Lane and building a new one would have been much cheaper than restoring itCurrently a majority of the buildings in Fort have been given precinct status while a few also fall under the Grade II and Grade III heritage category While repairs are allowed none can be undertaken until permission is granted by the MHCC which has to be notified about any changes being made within the structure NOCs also have to be given by the BMC and MHADA which is tasked with redevelopment of cessed buildings Though MHCC is lenient with changes being made within precinct structures provided the basic character of the building is maintained Loya says permissions for each building alone have taken him anywhere between 9 and 12 months To be honest I would not want my building to collapse But if you see it from the landlords point of view these buildings are a white elephant for us and its sad that many pray that they fall down without anyone getting injured adds BotawalaZubair Botawala Trustee of HIMS Botawala Charities Trust which owns 30 buildingsRisk of fireJust a week before the Kothari building fire a major fire broke out at Scindia House in Forts Ballard Estate which houses the investigation wing of the Income Tax Department destroying three floors of the right wing Most buildings in Fort were constructed a century ago or even earlier says Ranganathan At the time the fire safety standards that are now prescribed in various municipal regulations were not in force So you would find that these buildings were not designed with fire safety measures The second aspect in the construction of these buildings was that a lot of times wood was used making the building inflammable in a fire situation he saysAnother reason for the buildings being fireprone is its electrification says conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah She points out how the electrical systems have been altered and wired adhoc by various users which is often the root cause of short circuiting The buildings were electrified for basic lighting and fans but now have a large number of computers and ACs installed The electric wiring is unable to take that kind of load says RanganathanV Ranganathan former chairman of Mumbai Heritage Conservation CommitteeIf thats not any worse the coming in of highend eateries in Fort is also posing a risk says Botawala who has leased the ground floor of one of the trusts buildings to a restaurantIn 2012 a few months after the Mantralaya building fire Ranganathan in the capacity of MHCC chairman had suggested a slew of measures to prevent fire incidents We had asked the Mumbai Fire Brigade that they carry out fire audit of these buildings every six months and do regular fire drills We also requested examination of the electrical wiring system in these buildings once every 10 years However the resources of the chief fire officer of the BMC were not adequate for such audits he saysUnder the Fire Safety Act there is a provision for landlords to get a fire audit of their buildings done from a licensed auditor But if they dont have the revenue to maintain the building its impossible to expect them to gather resources to carry out these auditsDK Jagdale chief officer repair and reconstruction board of MHADAThe way forwardRanganathan admits that the low rentals being collected from properties in Fort is currently coming in the way of Forts restoration Loya who enlisted the services of Dilawari to restore Modi Building on Nagindas Master Lane in Fort while refusing to reveal the expenses their company had to incur says that bringing down the entire building and making a new one would have cost him 25 times less But this is part of our citys history and it is our responsibility to maintain it We have to do whatever it takes to keep the buildings heritage value intact he says Unfortunately he says the government does not recognise such effortRanganathan says he had recommended to the government that certain incentives and concessions be given to the owners of the building For starters if they are maintaining the building their property tax should be reduced We also suggested a heritage fund so that if they are doing any major repairs they can take assistance In some cases when the potential of the plot is not fully exploited whatever is the balance potential they should be given Transferable Development Rights TDR which they can sell in the market and get some money for maintenanceToday its more lucrative to inherit the tenancy of the building than its ownership To freeze rental values in time is bizarre The policy makers need to consider coming up with a special package for Fort alone because it is sadly on the verge of decay says LambahThe civic body continues to remain oblivious to the problems of the tenants or landlords and is quick to blame them Kiran Dighavkar assistant commissioner A Ward of the BMC says In the case of Kothari Mansion the building was vacated two years ago after it was declared unsafe What we noticed is that a tenant took an NOC from the MHADA to carry out repairs but didnt end up doing the necessary work We have instructed MHADA to file an FIR against the said tenant because it is due to this persons idleness that we lost a heritage structure He adds If landlords cant afford to repair these structures they should let MHADA undertake the repairs as its the official body to do soHowever both tenants and landlords are of the opinion that MHADA is incompetent to handle repairs of such nature They replace timber with steel says another resident from DN Road Dilawari says that if steel catches fire it wobbles turns and falls down putting the entire building at risk Wood is better than steel because it only burns and can be doused quickly he addedDK Jagdale chief officer repair and reconstruction board of MHADA says If people are not keen on getting the MHADA to repair the buildings its only due to dispute between tenants and landlord on their preferred choice of developerWhat cant be ignored is that one of the citys prized jewels is fastchanging It used to be the hub of Mumbais workforce but now most of the corporates have moved to BKC It is slowly becoming a touristy destination with small eating joints opening up The disadvantage of this is that the large corporate identity of these buildings is getting fragmented The footfall in Fort has also reduced This trend is not very positive and indicates that growth has declined Its the first sign of decay says Dilawari Fort is now a large tree which is hollow and shrinkingAlso 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