Nashik civic body to give tenancy documents to tenants of dilapidated wadas

NASHIK: Even as another wada partially collapsed in the old city area on Monday evening — the 11th so far since heavy rain started lashing the district since July 8 — the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) said a scheme to provide tenancy certificates to tenants of wadas would soon be introduced.

An NMC official said this move is aimed at reducing disputes between the owners and tenants of the wadas.

There are over 1,000 dilapidated wadas across six divisions of the city and majority of them are in Nashik East and Panchavati divisions. Also, the condition of around 70 strcutures is dangerous.

Every year, before monsoon, the civic body issues notices to the owners and tenants of the dilapidated wadas, asking them to vacate the structures. But the residents refuse to follow the orders and risk their lives by continuing to stay in the wadas.

“Although most of these structures are in dilapidated condition, the tenants are not ready to leave them as the rent is extremely low. They also fear that their rights will not be respected if the owners redevelop the structures,” an NMC official said.

“But if such certificates are given to the tenants, any redevelopment on the land would compel the owners to respect the rights of the tenants,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the wada that collapsed due to rain on Monday was in the Raviwar Karanja area of the city. In the past week, a total of 11 wadas have collapsed partially in the city — highest in the past three years. The previous high was recorded in the year 2019 when as many as 25 wadas had collapsed.

Out of the 70 most dangerous wadas, the NMC has already vacated 15 and is in the process of vacating the remaning wadas. The civic body has snapped water supply of 24 dilapidated wadas and written to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) to disconnect power to these structures.