Housing Redevelopment in Mumbai

The onset of the Southwest Monsoons has started to pose significant challenges to the urban planners and administrators all over India. However, in the densely populated city of Mumbai, where land is a premium and housing is scarce, the challenges are even more so.

Why?

• On July 16, 2019- the Kesarbai building collapsed which killed 14. However, what is more, shocking is that the same building has been put by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had identified the building in August 2017 as a dangerous structure which needed to be vacated and demolished.
• As per the BMC list, 619 buildings that are dangerous to live in have been put under the C1 category most dangerous.
• In 2015, as per National Crime Records Bureau records, a total of 1830 structural collapses occurred in India. This killed 1885 people.
• The collapse of a building leads to loss of life and limb, monetary loss and also puts a strain on the financial resources of the state which has to foot the bill for disaster response, rescue, and rehabilitation.

Why does the challenge continue?

People refuse to vacate the structurally old and unsound houses as they have no other place to live in. While many people are apprehensive of longer timelines of the housing projects, some people fear that they would no longer be allowed back into their homes, once they have moved out.

To avoid litigation, unanimous consent of all homeowners is needed to proceed for redevelopment. However, most homeowners do not give their consent.

What is changing?

The Maharashtra government has amended the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act to speed up the process of redevelopment. Instead of the earlier unanimous consent, now only 51% tenants and owners will need to give their consent for a project (reconstruction or repair of old and dilapidated buildings).