SRA projects will get safer elevators

Two days after the service lift crash in Matunga, the state government has decided to make it compulsory for builders undertaking slum rehabilitation projects to install ISO-certified lifts.

Two days after the service lift crash in Matunga, the state government has decided to make it compulsory for builders undertaking slum rehabilitation projects to install ISO-certified lifts.

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“We have directed the builders to install quality-certified lifts in their premises as they are safer and meet the required standards,” said Sachin Ahir, state minister for housing. “We do not want such accidents to be repeated in the future.”

Preliminary reports suggest that the service lift in La Sonarisa building was no longer usable.

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) will issue a circular in this regard this week. The circular will also direct builders to ensure maintenance of these lifts for 10 years.

“We have observed many of the lifts in these rehab buildings break down regularly and some have even stopped working completely,” said Ahir.

In the SRA scheme, builders construct separate buildings — one for the existing slumdwellers and another plush one for new tenants.

Since the slumdwellers have to be rehabilitated free of cost, amenities offered to them are of inferior quality compared to those offered in sale buildings.

Welcoming the move, Vile Parle legislator Krishna Hegde said: “People residing in these buildings are so poor that it is impossible for them to repair lifts regularly and hence they just abandon it.”

The residents living on upper floor, especially senior citizens, have to bear the brunt of this,” he added.