Old, dilapidated buildings will be pulled down: Sovan

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will pull down old dangerously dilapidated buildings, Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said on Thursday.

He was inaugurating the Realty Expo 2016 at Milan Mela ground on Thursday morning.

He said the Chairman of state Law Commission Justice (Retd) Pranab Chatterjee had prepared a draft proposals which the KMC would follow in pulling down old structures. Chatterjee will submit the draft on Thursday which will be examined by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with other legal experts. The state government will frame a law in the matter. “The draft has been prepared in such a way that it will take care of the interests of the property owners and the tenants,” he said.

The KMC has given notices to all the owners of old and dilapidated buildings and many of them have been declared condemned and notice boards have been put up in front of these structures. But despite that, people continue to stay in these premises risking their lives. “We will not allow them to die in those structures even if they want to,” Chatterjee said.

It may be mentioned that while inaugurating a Jagadhatri puja in Posta, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had urged owners of old buildings to get them repaired and assured that state government would give them every possible assistance.

It may be recalled that Chatterjee who is also the minister for Fire and Emergency Services department held a meeting with senior officials of the department and their counterparts in KMC and police to identify the dangerously dilapidated structures as they pose serious threats. Most of these buildings are located in North and South Kolkata. 

The buildings cannot be repaired because either the rent is very low and the owners are unable to repair them or there is owner-tenant litigation or court cases among the brothers. In many buildings, the owners have died and their successors stay abroad. Recently, around 10 people died in several incidents of collapse of parts of old buildings in the city.

The Mayor said that the state government would implement Real Estate Regulation Act and opinion of CREDAI has been sought in the matter.

Chatterjee said a list of housing complexes where the builders had failed to keep their promises would be prepared and they would be “fined heavily.” In many housing complexes, the promoters did not keep their promise in providing facilities to the buyers. This will be looked into seriously and the errant realtors will be pulled up.”