Bombay HC upholds BMC demolition order for Bandra building

Refusing to set aside a demolition order issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to a ‘dilapidated’ ground-plusthree-storey building in Bandra, the Bombay High Court observed that it is not an extension of the BMC, and it will not decide if a building is in repairable condition or not. A division Bench of Justices SC Dharmadhikari and GS Patel took note of several crumbling structures in Mumbai, where buildings have collapsed after stay orders were obtained in court. The judgment will affect thousands of buildings across the city that are currently dilapidated. The HC said in unequivocal terms that in cases where old buildings are concerned, it will “always take the approach that poses the least risk, even if this causes the most inconvenience”. “The court will always bear in mind that apart from the risk to those in occupation, every building in the city, and especially a city as congested as Mumbai, poses a risk not only to its occupants, but also to passersby. We have found that many buildings in question are on busy roads near stations,” the bench observed.