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A CAG audit has uncovered serious lapses in Mumbai's building safety oversight, highlighting that only one of eight city divisions submitted a list of dilapidated structures. Even that list-from Kalachowki-was flawed, with 76 of 248 buildings already redeveloped or demolished. The report criticizes the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and MHADA's Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBR&RB) for failing to identify dangerous cessed buildings and relying on superficial inspections over structural audits. The MHADA Act mandates rigorous monitoring of these aging structures. In response, the government has directed MHADA engineers to obtain accurate building data from local ward offices to improve safety oversight.
A recent audit report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has brought to light a concerning level of negligence in Mumbai's building safety management. The report reveals that city authorities have adopted a rather casual approach towards identifying and addressing dilapidated structures. According to the report, only one out of eight selected city divisions submitted a list of identified dangerous or dilapidated structures in its jurisdiction. Advertisement
The Kalachowki Division was the only one to provide a list, which contained 248 buildings. However, the CAG audit exposed flaws within this list, noting that 76 of these structures had either already been demolished, undergone redevelopment, or were currently in the process of redevelopment.
The city's aging infrastructure, including a large number of "cessed buildings" (pre-1969 structures paying a special repair cess to MHADA for maintenance), presents a persistent safety challenge that mandates rigorous oversight.
Under the provisions of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) Act, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is legally mandated to submit comprehensive details of cessed buildings identified as ruinous or dangerous, particularly those likely to collapse without urgent repairs or those for which BMC has issued notices.
However, the audit observed that among the eight selected divisions of the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBR&RB), a body under MHADA responsible for these cessed buildings, the BMC provided a list only for the Kalachowki division, indicating a widespread failure in data collection and reporting.
Further compounding the issue, the CAG audit noted that the MBR&RB relied solely on superficial visual inspections to determine the status of dilapidated cessed buildings, disregarding clear recommendations for comprehensive technical structural audits.
The government, in response to the CAG's findings, stated that directions have now been issued to all Executive Engineers of MHADA to obtain accurate lists of dangerous buildings from their respective ward offices, signaling a belated acknowledgment of the critical need for stricter compliance and more systematic safety management.
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