407 families continue to live in extremely dangerous buildings in Thane: TMC survey

For fear of losing possession of their homes, 407 families continue to stay in 44 extremely dangerous structures within Thane city, as per TMC survey; there are 4,330 dangerous buildings, out of which 74 are extremely dangerous

For the fear of losing possession of their homes, 407 families continue to stay in 44 extremely dangerous structures within Thane city, as per Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) survey. There are 4,330 dangerous buildings, out of which 74 are extremely dangerous.

A dangerous building in Thane. As per the TMC survey, 407 families continue to live in 44 extremely dangerous buildings in Thane for fear of losing possession of their homes. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

From among the 74 extremely dangerous buildings, 29 have been evacuated. Out of these 29, two have been demolished and a few more are in the process of being demolished. As of now, there are 44 structures that continue to have families residing in them. These include 16 buildings and 28 chawls that have 407 families residing in them.

Among the 28 chawls, 11 are just one-storeyed structures and 17 are two-storeyed (ground-plus-one) structures. Among the above-mentioned 44 structures, a majority of them are in Kopri ward with 16 buildings housing 187 families.

“We have been staying here for 18 years and if we abandon and leave our home, there is no assurance that we will be rehabilitated to a proper home like this one. They will give us only temporary accommodation, making us homeless. Hence, we are not keen to leave,” said Sridhar Dalvi, 55, resident of Shrishrusti Building in Kopri.

TMC has given multiple warnings and sent notices to vacate these structures. “We have made arrangements in 116 schools around the city wherein those staying in dangerous structures can be rehabilitated temporarily. Among the 4,330 dangerous structures, we have given permission to repair a few,” said Gajanan Godapure, deputy municipal commissioner, TMC.