Irfan Siddiqui, who lost his family members after the seven-storey building in Lucky Compound collapsed at Shil-Phata near Mumbra, Thane district, is yet to recover from the shock. "We fell into the builder's trap. I was fooled by the builder. Had I not moved to the illegal building, my family members would have been alive," he says. A total of 74 people were killed and about 60 injured in the accident.
Residents of the 21 buildings in Mulund that have been declared unauthorised by the civic body are clueless about their fate. Manohar Kadam, 55, who works in a private firm, says, "We are sick of promises by political parties. We want our shelter safe. We should not be victimised for the wrongdoings of the landlord and the builder and the inaction of civic and government authorities."
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Illegal buildings in Mumbai are in the news in the wake of the Campa Cola compound issue, with residents claiming innocence and the government its limitations in regularising flats that violate the norms. According to BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the civic body here, there are 56,000 illegal buildings in the city, and the number is increasing, given the land constraints and the influx of people. BMC says 143 unauthorised structures, predominantly in slums, could collapse any time. Estimates suggest 353 originally authorised buildings in 18 civic wards may collapse due to illegal alterations.
About 40 per cent of the buildings here do not have mandatory occupation certificates (OCs) from BMC. Between 2003-04 and 2012-13, the civic body received 14,370 applications for OCs; it granted only 6,888.
Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of real estate research firm Liases Foras, says many buildings in this city violate and exploit the rules. "First, people use loopholes in the system and build structures. Then, BMC officials take bribes to regularise these. You are penalising end users who are not aware of such violations. Sometimes, builders show fake plans," he says.
Sources in the government and political parties say 70 per cent constructions in neighbouring Thane are unauthorised. Nine out of every 10 buildings in Thane's Mumbra region are either illegal or irregular.
Ashutosh Limaye, head of research at property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle, says one needs to distinguish between completely illegal buildings and buildings without OCs, which state the property concerned is fit for human habitation. "There is a high demand for homes in Mumbai. For most, prices here are not affordable. So, the demand has spilled to extended suburbs and this leads to illegal buildings in some cases," he says. "The mechanism to track such buildings is weak."
He feels often, developers of such buildings lure buyers with discounts and assurances the approvals would be secured in time.
In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, calls by political parties to regularise illegal buildings are increasing. To tackle the menace, the state government is under pressure to announce cluster development for Mumbai and, later, for Thane and other cities. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has said cluster development is the only solution to address the issue, adding the scheme for Mumbai in this regard will be announced soon. Similar schemes for Navi Mumbai and Thane would also be announced, he added.
However, urban infrastructure expert Sulakshana Mahajan believes this isn't enough. "The issue of illegal construction needs more action and reforms in land records and measurement, transfer of rights, conversion of agri land to urban land, registration procedure, surveys, streamlining of building permissions and development plan reforms," he suggests.
Sachin Ahir, Maharashtra's minister for housing, says the government has decided to appoint an officer for each ward to check irregularities in construction. Both Chavan and Ahir are batting for a regulator for the housing and real estate sector. The Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2012, which awaits presidential assent, mandates full disclosure and compliance with all terms in sale agreements.
A committee headed by additional chief secretary Swadhin Kshatriya to recommend ways to deal with illegal constructions in urban areas has already submitted a report on the matter to the state government.