Tall temporary structures leave civic body gasping…..Geeta Desai
The civic body has brought under scanner temporary rehabilitation structures that have been elevated way above permissible limits.These structures,mostly around construction sites,are transit camps created out of iron rods,steel and cement sheets.As per the guidelines,such structures cannot rise above 20 metres (barely three storeys).However,around many construction sites across the city,these structures have gone as high as eight storeys,putting at risk those residing in them.
All of these structures face the risk of collapse,as the material used in their construction cannot withstand the load for too long.The issue came up for discussion at a State High Rise Committee meeting this week,and the BMC wants suggestions to ensure builders are forced to follow norms while creating transit camps.
Developers resort to such structures to save money on rentals,which they have to pay if they provide alternate accommodation to tenants under the slum rehabilitation scheme.
An official from the Building Proposal Department,who was part of the committee meeting,said,Transit camps vertical growth is a recent trend,and very dangerous one too because their creators dont need permissions. The official said the moment developers are issued work commencement certificate,it becomes an unwritten permission to build transit camps according to his whims.
The official said,Authorities have little control over the temporary structure a builder raises as no objection certificate (NOC) is not required.Initially,these structures hardly rose to four storeys but now,most of them are around eight storeys.
In the past six months,the city saw at least three collapses of structures that had come up illegally.In all the cases,rescue operations turned out to be a nightmare,because fire engines and other vehicles just could not reach the disaster site.A fire department official who attended this weeks meeting said,Seven or eight storeys made of tin and cement supporting hundreds of people and household items… we are talking of nothing but disaster.
* The material used in their construction cannot withstand the load for too long