The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) claimed to have demolished more than 60% of the extremely dangerous buildings in the city ahead of the monsoon. The process of demolishing the rest is still under way.
However, at least 1,852 residents from 692 families still continue to reside in extremely dangerous buildings in the city. Moreover, the demolition is undertaken as per the old list and no fresh survey of the buildings or the residents is yet published this year.
As per the figures issued by the corporation, at least 138 out of the total 235 extremely dangerous structures were demolished in 2021-22.
In 2020-21, the KDMC had only demolished around 20 such extremely dangerous buildings, claimed the KDMC commissioner, Vijay Suryavanshi.
“In year 2021-22, the number of extremely dangerous buildings demolished is higher compared to the previous years. We focused on demolishing all such buildings that could lead to collateral damage. We still have some 20 buildings where residents have not vacated while the remaining are those that have court cases and residents are refusing to evacuate. For this, we are taking help from the police. Before it starts raining, they will be shifted to temporary shelter with the help of the police. We have informed them about the temporary shelter through notices,” said Suryavanshi.
However, the fresh list of dangerous and extremely dangerous buildings is yet to be published by the civic body. As a part of the precautionary measures, to ensure there is no building collapse incident in the Kalyan-Dombivli vicinity, the KDMC claimed to have issued detailed directives to its concerned officers to take up the survey and demolition work at the earliest.
In the directives, the officials are asked to get the structural audit done of those buildings that are more than 30 years old. Once the audit is done, the officials should ensure that the building does not have any ongoing court case and be demolished without delay.
“We have now issued notices to residents to vacate dangerous buildings and their premises. Those buildings where the residents do not accept the notice, the officials will carry out a panchnama at the spot and take signatures of two witnesses and provide it to the police station as per the directives,” said Sunil Pawar, additional commissioner, KDMC.
“All the officers have been asked to ensure the water and power connections of such extremely dangerous buildings are disconnected first after which the work of vacating and then demolishing the structure is undertaken,” added Pawar.
Social activist Sreeniwas Ghanekar, who is the founder of Alert Citizens Forum, said, “This year, the civic body has not published the list of dangerous and extremely dangerous buildings. The monsoon is almost here. There is a need to have the declaration beforehand so that people are cautious.”
