‘Affordable housing for masses is the only solution to illegal construction’

CRIME STOREYS

Shortage Of Homes Has Led To Proliferation Of Fly-By-Night Contractors-Turned-Builders

    The arrest of those responsible for the coming up of the illegal building that collapsed in Mumbra's Shilphata area on Thursday night might instil fear in others involved in the region's illegal housing business, but development experts and politicians say the effect will be short-lived if the state government failed to take policy initiatives to increase affordable housing stock. 
    "No person likes to live in an illegal home, putting his and his family's lives at risk. If there is adequate and affordable housing stock in the area, it will be the first preference of families who live in illegal buildings under the shadow of fear," said MLA from Mumbra-Kalwa Jitendra Awhad. "The state government's policy inertia in the housing and urban development sector has resulted in the mushrooming of illegal constructions all across Thane." 
    The housing sector's demand-supply crisis has given rise to untrustworthy builders, who exploit the common man. With real estate prices in Mumbai touching the sky, the working class has had to shift to places like Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Bhiwandi. But even here there is a lack of adequate housing, forcing people with severely limited means to move into dingy rooms in illegal buildings. 
    A senior town planning official of the Thane municipality said that while the Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority has failed to cater to the rising demand for homes in the region, the performance of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is equally dismal. "MMRDA is the planning agency for rental housing and also a designated special planning authority for 51 villages on the outskirts of Bhiwandi and another 27 in the Kalyan and Ambernath talukas of Thane. It's been close to five years since the MMRDA finalized a draft development control plan for the area to regulate development activities and create housing stock. But the plan has not been unveiled," the official said. 
    He said the monumental tragedy in Mumbra that resulted in the death of 74 people could have been averted had the state machinery moved swiftly and taken steps to create apartments at an affordable price in the outskirts of the city in areas like Shilphata and Bhiwandi. 
    He said former MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad had initiated a rental housing policy in Thane and builders were given an FSI of four in return for free housing stock to the government. "The plan was to give away homes on rent to the huge number of migrants who come here in search of opportunities. The builders have exploited the FSI, but it is a mystery as to how many tenements have been given on rent." 
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER 
TOLL DEAD 
74 
CHILDREN 
29 
WOMEN 
19 
MEN 
26 
INJURED 
62 ARRESTED 
    BUILDERS | Abdul Salim Aziz Siddiqui aka Salim Shaikh, Jamil Ahmed Jalaluddin Shaikh aka Jamil Qureshi 
    DEPUTY MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER, THANE | Deepak Sharad Chavan, suspended 
ASSISTANT MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER, THANE | Babasaheb Sakharam Andhale 
SENIOR CLERK, THANE MUNICIPALITY | Kisan Bhaskar Madke 
NCP CORPORATOR, SHILPHATA | Hira Sitaram Patil BUILDING MATERIAL SUPPLIER | Afroz Alam Ansari CONSTABLE, DAIGHAR POLICE STATION | Jehangir Umarali Sayyad BROKER | Sayyad Jabbar Razzak Patel 
Times View: Continue crackdown 
    The government crackdown should not be a knee-jerk response to a man-made disaster. The building that collapsed was only one among an estimated 5 lakh illegal buildings in the district. Justice demands that the government sustain the drive to include other buildings constructed illegally and not lose its new-found zeal.CHARGES 
Section 304, IPC | 
Culpable homicide not amounting to murder PUNISHMENT | Life imprisonment or 10 years' imprisonment and fine 
Section 336 | Act endangering life or personal safety of others 
PUNISHMENT | 
Three months' imprisonment or fine up to 250 or both 
Section 337 | Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others PUNISHMENT | Six months' imprisonment or fine up to 500 or both 
Section 338 | Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others PUNISHMENT | Two years' imprisonment or fine of 1,000 or both 
Section 308 | Attempt to commit culpable homicide PUNISHMENT | Three years' imprisonment or fine or both. If hurt is caused, seven years' imprisonment or fine or both 
    Section 120 (b) | 
    Criminal 
    conspiracy 
    PUNISHMENT | 
    Life 
    imprisonment or 
    rigorous imprisonment of two years or upwards 
Section 34 | Criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention 
Section 13 (1) (d), Prevention of Corruption Act | Criminal misconduct by a public servant whereby he obtains valuable things, cash without public interest PUNISHMENT | Oneseven years' imprisonment

An illegal building near the one that collapsed being demolished in Mumbra on Sunday night