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Dilapidated buildings
under the purview of
Kolkata Municipal Corporation
The topic of dealing with old & crumbling buildings under KMC is a very sensitive one,
affecting the lives of thousands of citizens and the credibility of many agencies, and even of the
Government.
This topic, again, has many facets to it. It is not only an engineering matter. In fact, the Civil
Engineering aspect of this topic is only a small part of the whole affair. The main issue of
contention arises from the fact that citizens living people live in these buildings. The safety &
security of these people are at stake. Principles of natural justice prevent the Government from
issuing draconian orders, even though certain harsh steps in this matter are in the interest of the
citizens concerned. Hence issues of Governance, Policy-making and Legal correctness also
play important parts in this whole affair. But much more important is the issue of Humanitarian
concern. This may not seem to be all that vital, but history shows us that efforts in this matter
have succeeded or crumbled depending on how the humanitarian concerns have been addressed.1
Many Municipal Corporations in India have already grappled with this issue in the past.
Notable among them is the work done by Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike, Municipal Corporation of Nagpur & Amritsar Municipal Corporation. We
say these are notable because KMC can learn from the mistakes done by these Corporations, not
commit those costly mistakes, and thereby function for the real benefit of the citizens of Kolkata.
Three-pronged approach:
The first step will be to conduct a Survey of the buildings ward-wise. A special Committee
may be formed for this purpose consisting, among others, of Engineers from the Urban Dept of
the State Govt and Professors of IIT, Kharagpur & Jadavpur University. This team may have an
assisting group of Engineers & Legal experts which may form a Technical Advisory Committee.
All buildings beyond 25 years of construction will have to be categorized under three
categories:
A. Repair & reinforcement without evacuation
B. Evacuation & demolition within next two years
C. Immediate evacuation & demolition
Please refer to Appendix-A for reports from Amritsar, Mumbai & Nagpur in this regard.
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In cases where there are court cases about ownership of dilapidated buildings, a fast track
court to be set up especially to deal with such cases.
In many cases where even a fast-track court cannot easily settle the matter, a provision needs
to be made in the relevant rule of the KMC Act whereby the occupants of the building are
evacuated and rehabilitated in a different building, and the old building is broken down.3
The onus of evacuation from dangerously old buildings is on the owners of the land.
Appropriate amendments have to be made to the relevant Acts to locate this moral onus on the
2
Please refer to the last section of this paper for details that need to be conveyed to owners/tenants regarding this Awareness
Campaign.
3
Unless proper legal reinforcements are incorporated, KMCs efforts will be in vain. Tenants and owners have gone up to the
Supreme Court. For instance, please refer to Appendix-B.
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owners of the buildings. In most other Municipal Corporations (Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc.), there
is a legal loophole in this area, which is manipulated by the owners, land sharks and promoters to
the detriment of innocent tenants. Without equipping the KMC with appropriate legal
armaments, further activity of KMC in evacuation, rehabilitation and demolition will constantly
be stopped by stay-orders and writs in various courts4.
Help of NGOs and organizations such as Ramakrishna Mission, Bharat Sevashram Sangha,
Christian missionaries (who have large social following) may be enlisted in educating the owners
and tenants about need for immediate evacuation & rehabilitation. This is an alternative to use of
Police force in evacuation which will have a negative public impact on the KMC.
Please refer to following landmark court-cases & their judgments for justifying the necessity of appropriate amendments to the
KMC Act:
a. Appeal from Order (Stamp) NO. 23627 OF 2013 filed by one Smt. Esther Manickam against MCGM and Ors.,
decided on September 27, 2013
b. Writ Petition No. 3864 of 2013 filed by Ketan H. Parikh and Ors. against Khemraj D. Udeshi and Ors.; Decided on
MAY 9, 2013
c. Sanjali Sanjay Kadu vs. State of Maharashtra reported in AIR 2008 (6) Bom. R. 841 = 2008 (5) Bom. C. R. 306,
d. Gajanan Ramraoji Ambagovind & Ors. vs. Corporation of the City of Nagpur & Ors. Reported in 2006 (6) Bom.C.R.
413
e. M/s.Whiz Enterprises Private Ltd. vs. State of Maharashtra, Original Side Writ Petition (Lodging) No.28 of 2009
decided on 30.6.2009
f. The Tadeshwar Wadi Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. Vs.The State of Maharashtra and ors. Original Side Writ
Petition No.2403 of 2012
g. Mrs. U. Saraswati Sridhar v/s. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and another Original Side Writ Petition No. 378
of 2010 vide interim order dated 11-3-2010 the Division Bench of Bombay High Court
h. Appeal from Order No. 1452 of 2013 filed by one Bhavesh R. Solanki against MCGM and Ors., wherein interim orders
passed on December 24, 2013
i. Writ Petition (Stamp) No. 1135 of 2014 filed by MCGM against State of Maharashtra Ors., Division Bench of
Bombay High Court presided by Honble Justice Shri. Anoop V. Mohta and A.A. Sayed passed an order on 23-6-2014
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Following is a synopsis of the problems faced by tenants across Municipal Corporations across India in this regard:
Landlords/developers do not give temporary transit or rent during the construction period.
Landlords/developers do not give corpus and/or hardship allowance to meet the escalation in maintenance charges in
new building.
Landlords/developers do not give premises to the tenants in the new building on ownership basis and continue them as
tenants.
Landlords/developers do not give any extra area or even pass on the benefit of fungible FSI which is otherwise
available free of cost. Many times the proposed area is even less than existing area in occupation of tenants.
Landlords/developers convert their fungible FSI of tenants for their free sale component.
There is no minimum area defined for residential tenants also. Thus landlords construct units of 150 Sq. Ft. or 180 Sq.
Ft. for residential purpose which does not even match the minimum area available to even slum dwellers.
There is no time line defined and tenants are forced to wait and stay at their own cost for indefinite period.
Many times the landlords/developers do not provide any accommodation and tenants are forced to surrender their rights
for peanuts.
Limited bargaining and holding powers of tenants for various reasons which includes financial resources, want of unity,
lack of knowledge & awareness etc.
Tenants are displacement from their homes and their lives becomes a mess; they are put to great hardship after the
structure is demolished and during the construction period which usually exceeds over a period of 5 years.
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Routine maintenance:
o Items of work which need to be attended daily:
Cleaning of floors, walls, etc.
Water closet to be cleaned by brushes
Cleaning of sanitary installations & premises
Glass panes of doors and windows
o Items of work which need to be attended weekly:
Roof top cleaning
Bathroom & bathing places
Hinges of doors & windows
Ventilation installation
Electric pumps and motors
Heavy electrical installations like transformers, switchgears, etc
Woodwork & Cast iron decorations
o Items of work which need to be attended periodically:
Soil pipes, waste water pipes and rain water pipes, especially horizontally
running pipes.
Water supply lines
Cleaning of water reservoirs, both ground and overhead reservoirs
Narrow hair cracks to be identified on the walls
Growth of small plants on wall & roof corners and sides to be arrested
Bulging plaster & cracks to be replaced
Insulation, both heat & sound
Electrical installations, internal wiring, switches, fans, water-heaters, etc
Plinth protection around the building
Lift, escalators for vertical transportation should be checked
Cleaning of premises
Swami Suvirananda
Assistant General Secretary
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission
Belur Math
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