Authorities Turn Blind Eye Despite Illegal Buildings in Mumbai

Property buyers in Mumbai face two problems. First one is the skyrocketing prices in the city and the second is the number of illegal buildings in the city. There are many residential buildings in Mumbai which either don’t have the necessary legal documents or have flouted buildings norms. Experts say that authorities tend to turn a blind eye inspite of violations of building norms.

Illegal buildings in Mumbai

According to recent data collected by activists through the right to information (RTI) Act, almost 50% of residential buildings in Mumbai do not have occupation certificate (OC). There are many buildings which have built unauthorized floors. The recent incident of Worli’s Campa Cola apartments is just one such incident. There are several such examples. Buildings such as the one in Pali Hill, Bandra and another tower in Nepean Sea Road has been allowed to be occupied though it does not have an OC.

There are other buildings that misuse the fire refuge areas and sell them as part of flats. One builder in Central Mumbai has built a fire refuge area of size 8,000 sq.ft on each floor with an intention of selling the space later. This is again a violation of building norms. There are some other buildings that have violated the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms. The building on Nepean Sea Road is one such example.

Authorities turn blind eye

Experts believe that the current problem is more to do with lack of preventive actions from the authorities. While demolition of illegal structures is an option, civic authorities do little to prevent such illegal structures coming up in the first place. It may be possible that they just don’t care or sometimes involved in these affairs. There are many reasons for this. Some developers have either political connections or connections with the underworld. Many people do not take action fearing the consequences of any actions against these builders. There are few other officials who simply let off developers for a bribe.

Possible preventive measures

One way of reducing problems such as Campa Cola residential building is to make public disclosure of building and layout plans on a ward-wise basis. This can be displayed online which can be used by activists and vigilance authorities to bring irregularities to notice. It will act as a big deterrent to builders and architects who want to misuse any norms.

Buyers are not always well-educated and well-informed about laws and norms. They fall for marketing gimmicks by the builders. The state government has announced a new housing regulator. Builders must get an approval from this regulator before advertising flat sales. Breach of regulations should be dealt with as criminal offense. The government should also amend laws so that the corrupt ward officials can be punished either through transfers or hefty fines.

The public must also learn a lesson from the recent happenings, so that they have more knowledge about building regulations before buying houses than falling blindly for marketing gimmicks.