Cessed & stressed

Cessed buildings in the city have been a nagging headache for both authorities and the people who live there. Ironically, most tenants are happy to shell out for repairs, some even take over the landlord’s responsibilities. But for those who can’t afford to, life is a precarious, ramshackle existence. Neeta Kolhatkar investigates

There’s more to the issue of  cessed buildings than a tenant-landlord stand-off. Meanwhile, many of them are dangerously close to falling down.

In Mumbai, cessed building usually refers to buildings, chawls or structures that are either close to, or over a 100 years old. Many of these were originally owned by individuals, families and trusts, or by public sector companies. Unlike other parts of the city, rents here continue to be unbelievably low — as little as Rs100 per month, even after an enhancement, some years ago, of nine per cent on the basic rent amount.

But the problem of repairs to the building, and who needs to see to it, persist, even as many of these structures seem on the verge of collapse.

Officials say there are over 15,000 buildings in the ‘dangerous’ category. “Buildings in category A, which are said to have outlived their estimated lifespan, are deemed dangerous,” says Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, former CEO (relief and rehabilitation), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

“In almost all these cases, tenants ask us to help rebuild the properties for them.” Usually, because landlords have failed to do so. Says Vijay Kabre, an architect with the BMC’s repairs and reconstruction board, “Sometimes landlords of these cessed properties do not carry out repairs for decades.” In some instances, they have prevented even the tenants from carrying out renovation.

All tenants have to pay a repair cess, which is a part of their rent. In fact, tenants pay 90 per cent of the cess, and landlords 10 per cent. The total amount is then paid to the BMC, which in turn hands it over to MHADA. Often, though, tenants pool in money to build a corpus for redevelopment, and then approach MHADA. “It’s obvious many of them would rather pay up than continue to live on the time bomb that is their dilapidated building. Those who can’t afford to, however, continue to live in their old homes,” says Deshmukh.

One of the main reasons why tenants are pushing for repairs is the fact that many are still at transit camps. “The Special Land Acquisition Order says tenants must pay 100 months rent for redevelopment and while their building is being constructed, they have to stay in a transit camp. Unfortunately, many continue to live in there for decades. Officials also do not draw up the final master lists, so redevelopment drags on,” says Madhu Chavan, BJP legislator and former president of MHADA.

Despite the cess, MHADA continues to be cash-strapped because the money designated for repairs is a meagre Rs1,200 per square metre, which amounts to Rs120 per sq ft — much less than the amount required.

“Until the cess is increased, repairs will continue to be cosmetic. If the government wants to extend the life of these buildings, it needs to up the cess,” says Kabre. In another form of checks and balances, the BMC and MHADA have proposed that 70 per cent of tenants come together with a No-Objection-Certificate to allow either MHADA or a private builder to take over the redevelopment.