KMC issues notices to owners of 57 old and dilapidated buildings

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has given notices to the owners of 57 old and dilapidated buildings after they fail to maintain the structure.

The KMC had issued notices asking them to take steps to repair them. The civic authorities have identified around 1,500 old and dilapidated buildings that need immediate repair.

All these buildings are tenanted. The KMC will now give hearing to the owners and if they fail to take up the work, the KMC will auction the properties to find out builders and new buildings will be constructed with proper rehabilitation of the tenants. If the owners agree, then the structures will be pulled down to make room for the new ones with proper rehabilitation of the tenants.

The KMC had put up billboards all over the city asking owners of building that are more than 50 years old to get the health of the structures examined by structural engineers. Billboards were put up in front of old and dilapidated structures.

It may be mentioned that 20 people died when portions of an old structure fell on them in the city. The civic authorities had asked the tenants to vacate the premises but flouting the KMC order, they continued to live in the premises and faced the consequences.

Civic officials said all these accidents had happened during monsoon.

As the buildings are not maintained properly, the waterproofing on the roof has been totally destroyed. As the rain water cannot pass, the roof look like a pond and as the top of the building becomes heavy it collapses. The KMC has so far identified more than 2,000 dilapidated buildings all over the city. Most of the buildings are situated in the areas under Borough II, III, IV, V, VII and IX.

The problem has risen with the buildings whose owners could not be traced. Along the river Hooghly, there are many buildings whose owners have died and their descendents could not be traced.

Civic officials said if some of the old and dilapidated buildings are not pulled down before monsoon sets in, then there will be the risk of people getting killed due to building collapse.