The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has reported a concerning rise in the number of dangerous buildings within its jurisdiction over the past year. According to the most recent survey conducted for the year 2024-25, the civic body has identified a total of 535 buildings as dangerous, signifying an increase from the previous year's count of 524 such structures.
Under section 265 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act, the civic body has officially deemed these dangerous buildings. As a precautionary measure ahead of the monsoon season, the municipality annually releases a roster of unsafe structures. It urges citizens to evacuate these buildings promptly, highlighting the imminent risk of collapse, which could result in both loss of life and property.
The trend of increasing dangerous buildings in the city persists. An official from the Town Planning department of NMMC noted, "Last year, we witnessed a surge of 10 dangerous buildings, and this year, we've encountered 10 additional dangerous structures."
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The civic body has advised the owner or occupants to stop for the residential or commercial purpose immediately and demolish it as these buildings can collapse and cause loss of life and property.
Now, the civic body has asked other buildings which are more than 30 years old and are being used for habitants to undergo a structural audit as per the Section 265 (a) of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act. The date of the building will be considered when the occupation certificate (fully or partially) was issued.
The civic body will impose a Rs 25,000 penalty for not carrying out the structural audit and submitting the report in time. The penalty will be collected at the time of the collection of annual property tax. The responsibility of carrying out the structural audit lies with owners or occupants. Meanwhile, the civic body has made available the list of engineers at its official website for carrying out the structural audit.