Five LIC-owned buildings see ceiling, slab collapses in two months; terrified residents caught in bureaucratic tangle say concerns about their well-being are falling on deaf ears
Mandodari Building at Grant Road, where a slab collapsed on Nov. 29
In the past two months, five buildings owned by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) have reported major slab and ceiling collapses, leaving many residents injured, causing property damage estimated to be worth several lakhs and raising serious questions over accountability, safety and the prolonged impact of legal delays on urban housing.
In response, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has begun issuing general vacation notices to the occupants of these buildings. “Considering that the Bombay High Court is looking into MHADA’s authority to declare buildings being unsafe, we do not even know if MHADA has the authority even to send these vacation notices,” said Mukesh Shah, general secretary, LIC Tenants and Occupants Welfare Association (LTOWA).
The spot where Dadar East resident Uday Patil was sitting when the ceiling slab fell on his head
Furthermore, in a move that has alarmed the residents even more, MHADA has formally written to LIC stating that it will not be held responsible for any loss of life or property resulting from structural failures in these buildings. By doing so, the authority has made it clear that its hands are tied due to ongoing legal constraints. According to the residents and activists, the worsening condition of these ageing structures is a result of the Bombay High Court’s July stay order on Section 79(A) and 79(B) notices issued by the MHADA.
Major hurdles
Activist Jitendra Ghadge said, “LIC and the landlords of nearly 15,000 cessed buildings stand to benefit from redevelopment under Section 79(A). Unfortunately, many landlords demand an inflated share of the profits, while tenants are legally entitled to only 350-500 sq ft, leading to serious disputes during the redevelopment process. There is absolutely no regulation over the landlords’ expectations.
Uday Patil, a 78-year-old who sustained head and shoulder injuries following a ceiling collapse; (right) Chaitali Tarkar, resident of Mandodari Building at Grant Road, where a slab collapsed on Nov. 29
Meanwhile, the 79(B) mechanism — the only real solution to this crisis — remains pending before the Supreme Court. It is high time the government urgently took up the matter in the Supreme Court, before more lives are lost to collapsing buildings.” The 79(A) and 79(B) notices are meant to declare buildings unsafe or unfit for habitation and pave the way for repair, eviction, or redevelopment. With the stay order in place, MHADA’s powers to enforce urgent structural action have effectively been curtailed.
LIC unwilling?
On the other hand, despite several complaints and requests made by the residents of these 68 LIC buildings dotting South and Central Mumbai, LIC hasn’t agreed to redevelop any of these buildings to date. This has created an unprecedented situation where responsibility appears to have fallen through the cracks. While MHADA cites the high court’s stay order as the reason for its inaction, LIC — the owner of the buildings — has shown little willingness to either redevelop or undertake comprehensive structural repairs.
Pawan Vaishya, Dadar resident whose family narrowly missed being injured two months ago
“The only way to protect residents now is to start redevelopment without delay. Human life is more important than anything else. LIC must act immediately and place people’s safety above property and procedure,” demanded Shah. LIC Regional Manager Barun Kumar Khan, with whom the LTOWA is in touch over this issue, did not answer several calls made by mid-day.
Ongoing nightmare
The consequences of this bureaucratic deadlock are being borne entirely by residents, many of whom live in constant fear for their safety. Residents allege that despite repeated complaints and warnings, only temporary patchwork or no repairs at all are being carried out. Banoshri Shah, a resident of Jiwa Devshi Niwas building in Dadar West, suffered a leg injury after the ceiling of her house collapsed while she was cooking with her daughter on the night of November 27.
“After the incident happened, MHADA officials visited the site around 11.45 pm and carried out temporary fixing and propping work. Debris was also removed by them. Right now, we are staying in the same house as we do not have any other alternative. But we must shift soon, as my daughter —who also faced severe shoulder injury, which had rendered her unconscious due to shock — is scared to live in the same house now. She is just 19, and living here every day has become a form of mental torture,” she said.
Pawan Vaishya, another resident of Jiwa Devshi Niwas, said, “Two months ago, on the day our newborn daughter was discharged from the hospital, the ceiling of our flat and a slab collapsed just an hour before we were to return home from the facility. Some of the debris weighed 10 to 12 kg. Are the officials waiting for all of us to die before they take cognisance and start redevelopment work? I would have lost my baby. She was just 16 days old on the day this incident happened. We all would have died. We continue to live in the same house even today with our lives in our hands because we do not have any alternate home, and neither do we earn so much that we can rent a house in this area.”
Samrudhi Patil, a resident of Minerva Mansion of Dadar East, recalled an incident where the ceiling of her home collapsed on her 78-year-old father-in-law, Uday Patil. “My father-in-law was seated on a chair when suddenly, plaster fell on his head and shoulder. We had to immediately rush him to the hospital, and he had a scratch on his head that was bleeding. The doctors had then told us that it was a close shave, especially considering his age. We are living in this house despite this because we do not have any other option. If either of the authorities takes responsibility for redeveloping our buildings and helps with transit homes, then we can live a safe life,” she said.
Chaitali Tarkar, a resident of Mandodari Building at Grant Road, said, “When the flooring of my room sank by four inches, we wrote many letters to the LIC and MHADA, requesting them to at least allow us to get it repaired. While MHADA stated that they do not have any authority, LIC officials kept us hanging by just giving verbal assurances. They did come and inspect our house, but nothing happened after that. Now that another slab of our building has collapsed, the LIC is claiming that they have started the redevelopment process. But no official communication has reached us, which means that they are blatantly lying.”
Why is MHADA involved?
These buildings, which came under the Pagadi system, were acquired by LIC around 1956. Since 1976, the occupants of these buildings have been paying a cess fee to MHADA. Thus, the latter is responsible for the upkeep of these buildings, allowing it to send vacation notices to those occupying cessed buildings. Pagdi cess properties come under the direct control of MHADA. The occupants pay a cess for MHADA to carry out repairs. All these LIC buildings have been repaired at least five times by MHADA, which has clearly stated that these aged structures cannot be fixed further.
The five spots where collapses happened over two months
>> Mandodari Building, Badam Wadi, VP Road, Grant Road
>> Angrewadi, Sikka Nagar, Girgaon
>> 2/25 Minerva Mansion, Dadar East
>> Fourth floor, Jiwa Devshi Niwas, (Indian Mercantile Building), Dadar West
>> First floor, Dr Marshekar Child Clinic, Jiwa Devshi Niwas, Dadar West
>> Bhatia Bhavan, Shivaji Park, Dadar West
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