Mumbai: In Mumbai the civic authorities have listed 272 buildings as unsafe for habitation. But people continue to live and work in them mostly because they have 'no choice'.
The Amrut Mahotsav Building is 82 years old and one of the 272 unsafe structures on BMC's list. A dilapidated structure that could fall anytime but like most buildings on the list, it still is occupied and shockingly it is the BMC's own vaccination centre.
A BMC employee working in that building shrugs off her worries with a laugh saying that she doesn't have a choice but to work in such a building. " We are doing census work here, what to do?' she said.
Employees in the shops below Amrut Mahotsav are full of false bravado as they need the shop to keep their job.
"This building is strong. This building won't fall, at least not for another 20 years," said a hopeful shopkeeper.
The Manik apartments in Dadar too come in the category of the dilapidated structures and are caught in a dispute with the builder. The residents claim the builder is forcing them to sell instead of redeveloping the property, a more expensive proposition for him.
Subhash Malkar, a resident of Manik Apartment said, "The builder is willing to give us only 25 to 30 lakh for this. Now where will we get a flat in Dadar for that much money?"
However, some residents have succumbed to the builders' pressure and sold their flats
For the BMC these buildings are disaster waiting to strike and it wants them emptied at whatever cost."We will have to use force if necessary to get them out," said Swadhin Khastriya, BMC Commissioner.
For people living in these crumbling buildings this is hardly a solution. Its one more nail in their coffin of troubles.