MHADA to conduct structural audit of all 13k cessed buildings

The decision comes in the midst of the housing authority urging landowners and tenants of cessed buildings to redevelop their structures city, alongside initiating measures to acquire redevelopment rights

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) plans to conduct a structural audit of all 13,091 cessed buildings in the city prior to the 2026 monsoon, sources in the housing authority told Hindustan Times.

MHADA to conduct structural audit of all 13k cessed buildings

“We usually survey only a fraction of the cessed buildings before issuing a list of dangerous and dilapidated buildings ahead of every monsoon. But this year, we are hoping to survey all the cessed buildings,” said a Mhada official, requesting anonymity.

The decision comes in the midst of the housing authority urging landowners and tenants of cessed buildings to redevelop their structures city, alongside initiating measures to acquire redevelopment rights.

All cessed buildings in the city come under the purview of the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB) under Mhada. Many of the buildings are at least eight decades old, and some buildings collapse partially or entirely every monsoon, leading to people losing their lives and limbs.

Ahead of the monsoon in 2025, officials from the reconstruction board had conducted a structural audit of around 1,000 cessed buildings while other buildings were subjected to a visual inspection; subsequently, in May 2025, 96 buildings were notified as too dangerous to reside in, officials said.

Four separate agencies are likely to be roped in to conduct structural audits of the 13,091 cessed buildings over 2-3 months, the official noted.

As per Mhada’s estimation, the exercise is likely to cost around ₹40 crore, or up to ₹90,000 per cessed building, depending upon its size and number of tenements. Structures that are already creaking will be taken up on priority, officials said. Once the structural audit is completed, the number of dangerous and extremely dangerous buildings may shoot up considerably from the current 96, the officials added.

In 2024, Mhada had issued notices to 935 “dangerous and dilapidated” buildings located in the upmarket south Mumbai areas, such as Banganga Road, Walkeshwar, Gamdevi Road, BG Kher Marg and Nepean Sea Road. Subsequently, people from some of these buildings moved the Bombay High Court challenging redevelopment notices. The court stayed the redevelopment under section 79 (A) of the Mhada Act, which permits the authority to take up redevelopment of such buildings, but the stay was lifted in December, subject to the consent of 51% landowners and tenants for redevelopment.