As the monsoon approaches each year, thousands of Mumbai residents find themselves confronting a difficult reality—remaining in buildings declared unsafe or leaving homes they may never be guaranteed to return to. Despite repeated warnings from authorities about the risk of structural collapse, many families continue to stay in ageing cessed buildings, caught between stalled redevelopment projects, legal hurdles, uncertain rehabilitation timelines and concerns over losing long-standing tenancy rights.
For many residents, the decision is deeply personal. Forty-three-year-old Mayur Mistry has spent his entire life in Hathi Baug, a cessed building in Mazgaon. His connection to the property stretches across generations. His parents brought him there as a newborn, and the 120-square-foot room became the backdrop to both his childhood and adult life. Today, however, as a parent himself, he views the ageing structure with growing concern.
Ahead of the 2026 monsoon season, residents of Hathi Baug received an official notice confirming what many already feared. The building had been classified as highly dangerous, structurally distressed and beyond repair.
The notice required all occupants to vacate the premises within 15 days. Authorities warned that failure to comply could result in the disconnection of essential services such as electricity and water. More importantly, residents were advised that remaining in the building during the monsoon could place their lives at risk.
Yet, like many others across the city, the residents chose to stay.
Hathi Baug is among dozens of structures identified during the annual pre-monsoon survey conducted by MHADA. This year, 82 buildings were categorised as highly dangerous and vulnerable to collapse. Despite the warnings, many occupants continue to resist evacuation, citing a lack of confidence in redevelopment processes and uncertainty about future housing arrangements.
The situation highlights a long-standing challenge in Mumbai’s housing sector, where ageing buildings, redevelopment delays and resident concerns frequently collide, leaving thousands of families to make difficult decisions every monsoon season.
Source: The Indian Express
