Live, at your own risk
Because no one cares for safety while tinkering with structures of buildings.
By TNN |
MUMBAI: "It may collapse at any time. Enter at your own risk". This warning is reserved for dilapidated buildings, but there is no reason why it can’t be made applicable to most of Mumbai, sooner than later. Wednesday’s accident in Borivali has come as yet another reminder of how the whole system needs an urgent repair.
In the last five years over 250 lives have been lost in various building crashes in Mumbai. And on Wednesday a relatively young building in the crowded suburb of Borivali caved in, killing over 26. Add to this the 56 deaths due to rain-related diseases, in just over a week. But Mumbai managers refuse to learn any lesson.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has blamed ‘structural changes’ for the crash of Lakshmi Chaya building in Borivali. This precisely has been the reason given for at least two major building collapses — Poonam Chambers at Worli and Govind Towers in Bandra east — in the recent past.
However, the noises die down soon and the city tends to forget. And the builders, the corrupt politicians and greedy officials go back to their wily ways again.
Poonam Chambers, a plush building that housed business and commercial offices on the Worli sea face, crashed in September 1997, killing 19 and injuring many. The BMC-appointed two-member commission of enquiry, comprising structural engineer Satish Dhupelia and Sailesh Mahimtura, reported that the building was poorly maintained and alterations to the structure could have accelerated its collapse.
The Bombay High Court ordered a probe into the crash in September 1999 after companies that had offices in the building started accusing each other for the “structural changes”. But nothing came out of it.
Govind Towers crashed in September 1998 in Bandra, killing 36. A report on the probe into the crash (conducted by former additional home secretary and the then municipal commissioner KC Srivastava) held the BMC, MHADA and the collector responsible for giving the builder Jairam Chawla permission to construct the building in violation of rules.
However, the reports are only gathering dust in the corridors of power. Corrupt officials continue to close their eyes to the gross irregularities being committed by the city’s politically strong builder community. And buildings keep on collapsing.
In 2005 alone, three major building crashes were reported in Mumbai. Some 12 people died in Khar in June; a building crash at Saki Naka and a subsequent landslide killed over 75 in July; and an old chawl came under its own weight at Nagpada in Byculla, burying 10 in August.
Mumbai’s problem is that it has too many people in too small a space. Mumbai has little open spaces. The country as a whole has the lowest ratio of open space to people — four acres per 1,000 people — in the world. The global average is 12 acres per thousand. In Mumbai, it is just 0.2 acres per 1,000 people; and after accounting for slums, it is a measly 0.03 acres.
Official data suggests that Mumbai has over 18,000 dangerous buildings that accommodate thousands of people. But the unholy nexus between politicians, builders and bureaucrats make their repair a difficult task.
In the last five years over 250 lives have been lost in various building crashes in Mumbai. And on Wednesday a relatively young building in the crowded suburb of Borivali caved in, killing over 26. Add to this the 56 deaths due to rain-related diseases, in just over a week. But Mumbai managers refuse to learn any lesson.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has blamed ‘structural changes’ for the crash of Lakshmi Chaya building in Borivali. This precisely has been the reason given for at least two major building collapses — Poonam Chambers at Worli and Govind Towers in Bandra east — in the recent past.
However, the noises die down soon and the city tends to forget. And the builders, the corrupt politicians and greedy officials go back to their wily ways again.
Poonam Chambers, a plush building that housed business and commercial offices on the Worli sea face, crashed in September 1997, killing 19 and injuring many. The BMC-appointed two-member commission of enquiry, comprising structural engineer Satish Dhupelia and Sailesh Mahimtura, reported that the building was poorly maintained and alterations to the structure could have accelerated its collapse.
The Bombay High Court ordered a probe into the crash in September 1999 after companies that had offices in the building started accusing each other for the “structural changes”. But nothing came out of it.
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Govind Towers crashed in September 1998 in Bandra, killing 36. A report on the probe into the crash (conducted by former additional home secretary and the then municipal commissioner KC Srivastava) held the BMC, MHADA and the collector responsible for giving the builder Jairam Chawla permission to construct the building in violation of rules.
However, the reports are only gathering dust in the corridors of power. Corrupt officials continue to close their eyes to the gross irregularities being committed by the city’s politically strong builder community. And buildings keep on collapsing.
In 2005 alone, three major building crashes were reported in Mumbai. Some 12 people died in Khar in June; a building crash at Saki Naka and a subsequent landslide killed over 75 in July; and an old chawl came under its own weight at Nagpada in Byculla, burying 10 in August.
Mumbai’s problem is that it has too many people in too small a space. Mumbai has little open spaces. The country as a whole has the lowest ratio of open space to people — four acres per 1,000 people — in the world. The global average is 12 acres per thousand. In Mumbai, it is just 0.2 acres per 1,000 people; and after accounting for slums, it is a measly 0.03 acres.
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Official data suggests that Mumbai has over 18,000 dangerous buildings that accommodate thousands of people. But the unholy nexus between politicians, builders and bureaucrats make their repair a difficult task.
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