KMC: No renewal of licence for business in dilapidated buildings

Update: 2018-11-17 17:47 GMT

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will not issue fresh licence or renew the same for carrying out business in dangerous buildings in the city.

The proposal was recently passed at the meeting of the Member Mayor in Council (MMiC) that was presided over by Mayor Sovan Chatterjee.

"It is expected to get the nod at the monthly meeting of the KMC on Tuesday and then we will forward it to the state government for its final nod. We have to amend our 1980 Act regarding issuance and renewal of the license to make this effective," an official of the Building department of the civic body said.

There are around 3,000 dangerous buildings in the city and a number of them are dilapidated. Many of them are used for business purposes. There are shops as well as bazaars that these buildings happen to house. "If such a dangerous building collapses, then it may prove fatal for both the buyers and the sellers. In recent times, there have been a number of cases of caving in of dangerous buildings and a few deaths too. So we have decided to act tough on this for the safety of the citizens," the official added.

It has been decided that the database of the dangerous buildings will be shared with the license department of the civic body. Until the KMC declares any such building safe, the license department will not renew its licence.

If a building is declared safe after repair and the traders apply for license, the officers of the licence department will visit the same before the issuance.

According to sources in the Building department, there are a number of dangerous buildings in Borough I, II, III, IV and V and also in VII, VIII and IX where such business activities are held.

The roads in which such buildings are situated include Lenin Sarani, Strand Road, Strand Bank Road, William Lane, Kali Krishna Tagore Street, Kalakar Street, Belieghata Main Road to name a few.

The KMC is also planning to make fire insurance of traders mandatory in issuance or renewal of licence. 

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