Our’s is an old independent house, one of the few remaining in the metropolis. It has a wooden frame as a roof support with mangalore tiles on top. The wooden framework needed changing. My father, now 71 (at the time about 65) decided to get it done.
So with an estimate from a local contractor, he went to the BMC to get permission. He is of the old school of thought. Won’t pay bribes and wouldn’t know how to offer them. He was a physicist & had never seen the insides of the BMC.
At the BMC, he was told that he can do ’no such thing’, as the building would constitute a heritage site and the changes would constitute a structural change. And if he went ahead with it, he could end up in prison and or he would be fined.
My father explained that if he didn’t, the roof would give in and he would be dead. That got the attention of the officer, who looks up from his papers. He offered him a seat (seeing an elderly man) & asked him what he wants to change & that his engineer will have to count how many main supports there are and how many need changing. ’Fine’ we said and reiterated the urgency of the matter.
Days went by and nobody came, not a soul, no engineer, officer and not even the cleaners.
Back at the office, the file had moved to the engineer’s table. He said he needs a drawing (as in made by a draftsman, an engineering drawing). We explained that it’s an old house and there were no drawings from that time. But if he insisted, we could draw one. He agreed, but would have to verify it with a ’site’ visit. So we put down paper to pen. Went home and waited for his ’highness’ to arrive. He never did, he was always busy with ’important matters’.
The contractor returned and my father finally gave in to his coaxing. He said ’saab, your slippers will wear out by the time you get the permission’. The permission was granted. It came in writing from the BMC. It cost in all about twenty five thousand in under the table payments. The whole restoration and repair job and partial painting cost one Lac fifty thousand. (16.66 % in commissions and payoffs)
BMC took from an old man what no one and no institution did in 65 years; his faith in the system, the hierarchy, the law ... Today, he has returned to his old self and believes that the BMC may have a ’few BAD men’. Men like Khairnar are responsible for that. God bless him.