Water supply to 122 apartments snapped

Surat: Following the collapse of a dilapidated building in Sachin GIDC that killed seven people, the Surat Municipal Corporation has expedited the demolition of buildings developed by the civic body whose structure has been declared weak. As part of the accelerated actions, SMC teams disconnected the water supply to 112 apartments in Man Darwaja Tenement on Monday.
Currently, 922 families comprising 3,600 individuals are living in the apartments. The housing colony has 12 buildings with 992 flats.
The structure of the buildings was declared weak in 2017 and a redevelopment project was announced. However, majority of the occupants did not vacate the apartments due to which the project could not take off. Following the building collapse incident, SMC has started strict follow-up with the residents and initiated penal actions.
Around 150 SMC officers including engineering teams, medical and sanitation staff were present at the Man Darwaja site amidst heavy deployment on Monday.
“SMC alerted the residents, local leaders and others concerned about the planned demolition. In a recent structural stability test, the buildings was found extremely weak and in monsoon it could collapse,” said a SMC officer.
On the first day, water connections to 112 apartments were disconnected. Following the strict implementation, many families have started preparing to move. Of the 922 families living in the apartment, half of them are tenants.
Earlier, five buildings with 324 residents were convinced to vacate the houses. The colony has a shopping complex, anganwadi, school and a fire station. Around 45,000 sq ft of land will be cleared once the tenements are razed.
Residents held protests against the attempts by SMC to vacate the building.
“Following the Sachin incident, we had no other option but to forcefully vacate the apartments. The land will be used for redevelopment and the owners will be provided new houses,” said an SMC official.