PUNE: They have now become some of the most dangerous structures in the Camp area, posing a risk to occupants and passers-by. But the Pune Cantonment Board, citizen activists said, is still dragging its feet on plans for relocation of residents, repair of these buildings and resolution of disputes between tenants and homeowners. Many of these disputes are currently in court, which means fixes cannot be carried out unless the matter is resolved.
A 2021 survey pegged the number of dilapidated homes and buildings in Camp, all in need of extensive repairs, at 100. On Saturday, a century old two-storeyed building fell on Jaffer Street, with debris only damaging a car parked nearby.
The incident highlighted how risky such structures have become. “Hundreds of people use Jaffer Street daily. We’re all lucky the house didn’t collapse onto the road,” said one resident, shortly after the incident on Saturday.
Citizen activists slammed the PCB for ignoring people’s safety and called on officials to do more than just serve eviction notices.
“They never thought of this as a serious matter,” said James Paul, a former president of the Pune Cantonment Tenants’ Association. “Litigations have been pending in the courts for years. So what does that mean? That we continue to live near buildings that can fall on us at any moment? PCB should’ve organized meetings between tenants and owners to find solutions,” Paul said, adding that the Board cannot simply shrug off the responsibility. “And if solutions can’t be found, disputants should be taken to the cops because this concerns public safety,” he said.
Most of these dilapidated structures, built using mud mortar and wood, can be found on Datur Meher Road, Bachu Adda and other densely populated areas of Camp. Officials from PCB’s engineering department said many are indeed on the verge of collapse.
“They are beyond their life cycle and can fall any time,” said a senior PCB official. “We could not vacate occupants. As per the rule, we have served them notices under section 297 of the Cantonment Act, 2006. But they’ve not responded to these notices. We also informed the police, but that hasn’t helped either,” the official said.
An owner of one of the buildings said since PCB doesn’t grant adequate floor space index (FSI), at par with PMC areas, redevelopment is a problem. “We can’t build new structures of the same size. This problem needs to be addressed too,” the homeowner said.
The PCB official said permissions to repair have been granted in some cases. “Tenants and owners can carry out some repair work at their level, but people don’t do it. In such situations, PCB has little scope to intervene,” the official said.
Another senior official said disputes often come in the way of repairs. “In some cases, the occupants want to carry out fixes, but PCB cannot grant them an NOC without consent from the original owners. And some of these disputes are in court,” the official, part of the engineering department, told TOI.
There’s a reason why the tenants wish to stay on in these structures, despite the risks. “The monthly rent for some of these buildings is Rs 2, Rs 5 or Rs 10 per month. So they know they’ll never get a house for this low a rent anywhere else,” the official said.
