The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has declared 475 buildings as dangerous, and has directed that the structures be audited periodically. The civic body has warned that a penalty of Rs 25,000 will imposed for failing to carry out structural audits.
The owners or occupants of the dangerous buildings have also been informed to vacate such buildings. The penalty will be collected at the time of collection of annual property tax.
Meanwhile, the NMMC has announced a list of dangerous buildings in the city under section 265 of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act (MMCA) after a ward-wise survey was conducted recently. Notices under section 264 of the MMCA have been sent to all the 475 buildings.
The civic body usually declares a list of dangerous buildings before the monsoon, and then appeals to citizens to vacate before it collapses and causes loss of life and property.
As many as 65 buildings across nodes in the city fall under the C-1 category (high risk and uninhabitable) which need to be demolished immediately.
As per section 265 (a) of the MMCA, buildings that have been in use for more than 30 years are required to undergo a structural audit by a construction engineer or structural engineer registered with the NMMC. The date when the occupation certificate was issued to the building will be considered during audit.
The civic body will impose a Rs 25,000 penalty for not carrying out structural audit and submitting the report in time. NMMC sources said the onus of carrying out the structural audit lies with owners or occupants.
Meanwhile, the NMMC has made available the list of registered structural engineers on its official website for carrying out the structural audit. The audit report has to be submitted with the town planning department before September 30.
