Coronavirus lockdown: Mumbai civic body identifies 9 buildings to house workers

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified nine unoccupied buildings located across the city and a large commercial space to give temporary shelters

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has identified nine unoccupied buildings located across the city and a large commercial space to give temporary shelters to stranded migrant labourers and homeless people.

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Thousands of migrant labourers are working on the city’s infrastructure projects such as the coastal road, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road and Metro network. According to the BMC’s estimates, these spaces can accommodate 15,000-17,000 people. The nine buildings are located in Kandivli, Borivli, Dahisar, Bhandup, Mulund, Lower Parel, Matunga, Bandra West and Andheri East. Of the nine buildings, six belong to private realty projects, while the rest three are owned by the civic body. The commercial space is the exhibition centre at Nesco in Goregaon, which is said to be spread over 45,000sqm. The BMC will provide people with food and water until the lockdown ends.

On Sunday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said the state will take care of all migrant labourers and provide them with basic necessities such as food and water. Following this, the BMC asked developers and real estate groups to provide unoccupied buildings which have completed construction and are habitable on a temporary basis to shift the workers. The wards are giving water and sewerage connections.

“Most of these buildings have several floors, however, we will only use the first few floors. With no lift in these buildings, delivering the supplies will be difficult. We will also use the parking lot of these buildings to house people,” a senior civic official said.