Central Govt. Colony, Antop hill (Mumbai)

India / Maharashtra / Mumbai
 invisible, housing / apartment colony, staff quarters
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Residential quarters for the Central Government employees. These quarters are divided into seven sectors, of which Sector-7 is the largest sector.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   19°1'46"N   72°51'59"E

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  • biggest colony for central govt
  • Condemned, Antop Hill colony awaits the Great Leveller Aruna Chakravorty -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 18: An eerie spectacle greets visitors of Kane Nagar, Antop Hill - the housing complex of 8,000 flats for central government employees - as row upon row of buildings stand dark, condemned, stamped in black lettering in Hindi and English, saying they are unsafe for habitation. Though they have been vacated, some since the last three years, these structures risk imminent collapse, even as the Union Housing Ministry deliberates on their fate. The structures - 218 buildings comprising seven sectors - are being pillaged, windows gouged out and trespassers from the neighbouring Bengalipura slums filter in, using these flats for anything from drug dens to urinals. Yet, trespassing is one of the last concerns for officials of the Maintenance Department. They fear for the trespassers' lives. Only recently, one of the buildings, no 79 in Sector II, crumbled in a downpour, injuring two trespassers inside. ``We stood there for hours together, praying that there were no bodies under the debris. Had there beenany, we would have been held responsible,'' says an engineer of the Maintenance Department. Rampant thieving abetted by gaping holes where windows have been ripped off their frames has only served to further erode the stability of the structures, most of them 30 years old. Yet to plug pilferage, officials have been forced to remove windows of the other buildings themselves. Where they have failed to, staircases have been walled in so that thieves cannot carry away the booty. However, these feeble attempts will only postpone the inevitable. The collapse on August 9 was the third in as many years. At least seven more buildings are expected to give way any moment and have been earmarked for demolition. This will add to the tally of five buildings which have been demolished already. However, for the colony's residents, danger is a constant companion. Plaster has been peeling for a while now, the walls vibrate and mud spurts out at every attempt to drive a nail in. ``Even now, there are cracks in the wallsinside,'' says Ratna Padmakar, who has just been shifted from an unsafe building to a recently `repaired' one. She is awaiting interior repairs before she paints her new home. The Antop Hill Central Government Quarters is one of the biggest housing complexes for central government employees in Mumbai. It comprises 83 acres whose buildings cover around 42,000 sq mt. In a three-year exercise, which began in 1993, around 56 buildings have been labelled as totally unsafe for habitation. In fact, almost every one in Sector IV - which resembles a cemetery of dead buildings - is unsafe. Extensive repairs were earmarked for a few other structures. ``We decided to take up repairs only in buildings where the costs were less than 20 per cent of the construction costs,'' confides an official. ``Even that included only external repairs. Only where columns and beams have cracked, we are reinforcing and replastering them,'' the official explains. But even that is no insurance against life. But then why do centralgovernment buildings - are devoid of `illegal' alterations and additions, considered culprits in collapses of private buildings - bite the dust in just 30 years? (A reinforced cement concrete structure is supposed to have a lifespan of around 60 years). ``The buildings are old,'' a senior official justifies... ``and then Mumbai being close to the sea, the salt in its air, the atmospheric conditions, high humidity and chemical pollution weakens the structures before their time.'' Another official confides that a study is underway to dig up reasons for the aborted lifespan. Committees have been set up, both local and central, to study the construction material used. But as the Union Housing Ministry sifts through a scheme to build multi- storey buildings here, officials are keeping their fingers crossed as far as vandalism and collapses are concerned. Its skeletal policing staff has proved poor in patrolling the vast expanse from thieves and anti-social elements. Even demolishing the unsafe buildings willnot help, officials feel, as the land will be immediately encroached upon. But they need not wrack their collective brain. The Great Leveller will probably make that decision... sooner rather than later.
  • antop hill means an+top+hill.
  • CGS Quarters is a good residential area for keralites, students etc. All necessary facilities are avilable in and around the area.
  • JAMES RXON WANTS TO VISIT HERE
  • In antophill, govt employee especially people living in building no. 34 flat no. starting from 1266, 1st floor and 2nd floor allottes are also doing broker work.In this wing there are many tenents living from 1st floor till 4th floor. But no one is checking nor asking them to vacate. we have noted the Estate officers are checking only ground floor's They are not checking some flats because those are supported by the govt staff and they are saving the tenents as well encouraging them to live there. In such case the esate govt and cbi should take action on them who are supporting such things.
  • change of accomadition at KANE NAGAR
  • The wall behind the sector-7 of Antop Hill has been damaged for last many years and the sector is a thoroughfare for the peoples living behind it, in Bharni and Sangam Nagar areas. The bikers from slum areas are always seen on the streets of this sector racing with dangerous speed and sound. The newly developed park of sector-7 has also become popular spot for slum boys of Bharni and Sangam Nagar for playing cricket, gathering, consuming liquor etc. In short, I want to say that the environment of sector-7 is not like as it should be in the Govt residential areas. My request to CPWD authority is to construct a very strong wall with concrete and iron rods behind the sector-7 and restrict entries of unauthorised persons through other entries by placing security guards.
  • I have complete to the estate manger but no is coming to checking sector 7 building no 27 plz remove all who staying in rent
  • Hi this is sonam morris i work in DGQA QAE(EFS) mumbai at naval dockyard recently i m living at ghatkopar DGQA quater and m looking for quater near cst station can you please guide me What is the process to get new quater
  • Me working in naval dockyard Mumbai, can U plz help to get quaters in CGS COLONY ANTOPHILL
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This article was last modified 9 years ago