Mumbai’s unsafe buildings: Tenants to get Rs 20,000 monthly rent aid ahead of monsoon

Representative image

In a major relief for thousands of Mumbaikars living in perilous conditions, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) will provide Rs 20,000 per month to tenants of 96 dangerously dilapidated cessed buildings to help them relocate before the monsoon.

The move follows MHADA’s pre-monsoon survey, which flagged these structures as unfit for habitation, putting nearly 3,162 tenants, including 2,577 residential and 585 commercial occupants, at risk, as per a Business Standard report.

The Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), under MHADA, has also arranged 400 transit flats through private agencies to temporarily house displaced families. These units, measuring 180 to 250 square feet, will be leased for three years, offering immediate shelter, as per CNBC-TV18.

The entire expense of the relief package, including the Rs 20,000 monthly rent assistance and leased transit flats, will eventually be borne by the private developers or housing societies responsible for redeveloping these unsafe buildings. MHADA confirmed that all costs, from rent to maintenance charges, will be recovered from them, starting from the day affected families begin receiving support.

With only 786 vacant transit homes currently available, MHADA Vice President and CEO Sanjeev Jaiswal (IAS) has directed officials to advertise for private landlords to bridge the gap.

As per CNBC-TV18, Mumbai’s island city has 13,091 cessed buildings, many decades-old and poorly maintained, with MBRRB managing 20,591 transit units for those displaced by collapses, road-widening projects, or redevelopment. This latest intervention aims to prevent monsoon-related tragedies, a recurring nightmare in the city’s congested neighbourhoods.