No quick fixes for urban decay

Building collapses have killed more than 800 Mumbaikars over the past five decades. Inquiries have been held, committees have been constituted, the state government has come up redevelopment schemes but the situation on the ground has remained unchanged despite the High Court taking it up suo motu.

The latest incident in an unbroken chain of avoidable tragedies occurred on June 27, when 19 construction labourers were buried alive in their sleep at Kurla.

The four-storey building at Naik Nagar, named after former CM Vasantrao Naik, had been declared dangerous but the owners had stalled evacuation using a lacunae in the law. 

This only shows that all of us are struggling to come to grips with the issue of urban decay, a sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. 

There are 11,000 rickety buildings in Mumbai alone with 337 of them, including two civic schools, listed as unstable and likely to fall. Besides, there are numerous reasons for the status quo. Clearly, a fresh approach is needed for this conundrum.

CM knows the problem firsthand

Fortunately, one of the few politicians who really cares about the issue happens to be present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. He has lived in a run-down building in Wagle Estate, Thane, for most of his life. Shinde has been advocating cluster redevelopment which is the best bet as of now.

Limited solution

Meanwhile, BMC can solve part of the problem if it can convince residents of dilapidated buildings to vacate. Devendra Jain, former Deputy municipal commissioner, had a way of convincing those who risk death resist as they do not trust the government, the landlords or the builders.

Jain studied each case and make a presentation on the pros and cons of living in such structures. To assure residents that they would not be duped, each tenant was given a BMC certificate mentioning the carpet area of his/her flat in the redeveloped building.

 By the time he retired in 2020, the `Jain pattern’ managed to convince residents of 100 buildings to vacate. However, the method needs time and dedication as it involves meeting tenants and landlords face to face. Besides, not all dilapidated buildings have the same issue. Civic officials need to identify them and resolve them to build confidence. It is worth taking the pain as every life is precious.

Holistic approach to urban regeneration

However, a wider view of the vexed issue, known globally as inner city decay, is long overdue. With strong political leadership, Mumbai can show other Indian metros how to initiate an urban regeneration process. Success in the use of land-planning and finance tools though will depend on sound and well-enforced zoning and property tax systems. 

But for this, a larger consensus, a genuine public-private partnership, political sagacity, transparency, not to forget, public scrutiny, is needed. A new beginning has to be made.

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