100-year-old building demolished in Malad for road widening

The corner of Jakaria Road on SV Road was a 90 feet road but was reduced to 25 feet due to the presence of this imposing building — also known as Jugal Kishor —which led to major traffic jams on that busy junction.

Mumbai: A 100-year-old building — Shanti Darshan — on SV Road, Malad West, was demolished by the civic authorities on Thursday as it was it was creating a traffic bottleneck on the busy road and also, was in a dilapidated condition — categorised as dangerous.

The property is expected to be redeveloped at some other location, the details of which are not clear yet. The building was in a dilapidated condition and was marked under C1 dangerous category. Nearly 17 families and 19 commercial tenements housed in the building had vacated after the Bombay high court had dismissed their petition challenging the BMC notice, issued under section 354 of MMC Act. (HT PHOTO)

The corner of Jakaria Road on SV Road was a 90 feet road but was reduced to 25 feet due to the presence of this imposing building — also known as Jugal Kishor —which led to major traffic jams on that busy junction.

The demolition, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) P (North) ward office, will allow the widening of the road to 90 feet and is expected to ease the flow of traffic on this stretch.

The property is expected to be redeveloped at some other location, the details of which are not clear yet. The building was in a dilapidated condition and was marked under C1 dangerous category. Nearly 17 families and 19 commercial tenements housed in the building had vacated after the Bombay high court had dismissed their petition challenging the BMC notice, issued under section 354 of MMC Act.

The interim application of the tenants was dismissed by the court on December 21 giving tenants three weeks’ notice to vacate. In the event of failure to vacate, BMC was directed to take action in accordance with the law. The civic body was also directed to adhere to the policy of May25, 2018 on C1 category buildings where area certificate of their flat is given to the residents by the BMC.

The first notice for declaring structure dangerous was issued in 2012. The court took cognizance of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which classified the building under C1 category.

“There is no reason for this court to discard the report of the expert committee. Moreover, considering the precarious condition of the building, there is every possibility of the building collapsing. Considering the location of the building, any such mishap will not only pose danger to the life of the tenants and other occupants but will lead to loss if lives of pedestrians and public,” the court observed.

Assistant commissioner P (north) ward Kiran Dighavkar said, “A huge bottleneck will now be cleared at SV Road. The road will be widened from 25 feet to 90 feet.

“Shanti Darshan was marked under C1 category. The residents had moved court and a three-week relief was granted. The court had directed us that if the residents do not vacate by January 12, the building should be demolished,” added Dighavkar.

Seventy-five-year-old Girish Sonigara and his wife Vasantiben (68), who once resided on the ground floor of the demolished building, said that genarations of their family had lived in Shanti Darshan in the last 100 years.

“We have lived there for 50 years and my parents, too, lived here. This building was in such a dangerous condition that whenever a heavy motor vehicle passed by, there used to be vibrations. We had vacated a few months back for our own safety. We used to get scared to live there because it was in such a precarious condition,” said Sonigara. The couple has now shifted near Somwari Bazar in Malad West.

Sonigara added, “All the residents have shifted as they didn’t want to risk their lives. Everyone has looked for alternate accommodation.

“The BMC case alone went on for many years. Their target is to widen the road and then the issue of redevelopment of our building will arise,” said Sonigara.

Ramesh Goyel, who lived on the first floor, said, “I was a tenant living here for 45 years and I will get a certified copy from the BMC stating that my home is demolished. In the last three years, the building was in a bad shape. Around 60 people are affected (by the demolition) and the builder is going to provide us accommodation. The plans are being chalked out.”