Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken special measures to save the old, dangerous and dilapidated buildings, before monsoon.
The civic authorities have engaged workers to cut down the trees that have covered the old, dangerous and dilapidated houses.
KMC has already pulled down one such building in Central Kolkata about a week ago and more such buildings will be pulled down soon.
Senior civic officials said that despite repeated requests, the tenants occupying such buildings have refused to vacate the premises. In 2017, 22 people who used to reside in old, dangerous and dilapidated buildings had died.
The houses that are covered by trees are more than 80 years old. They have not been repaired for ages. The roots of the trees have weakened the structure of the buildings. In some of the buildings, the roots have gone inside the foundation and such structures can collapse any time.
"We cannot take the risk anymore. Despite requests, neither the owners nor the tenants have maintained the houses, doing at least patch repair and cutting the trees. So, we have taken up a move to cut the trees, just to save the buildings during monsoon," said a senior KMC official.
Monsoon poses a serious threat to the ill-maintained old structures. Due to lack of maintenance, the waterproofing on the roof has gone. So, when there is heavy rain, the water does not get any outlet and is stored on the roof. This increases the weight of the building and as the foundation is already weak, the structure being unable to bear the additional load, collapses.
There are around 2,000 dangerous and dilapidated buildings all over the city. The highest number of such houses are situated in North, Central and parts of South Kolkata.
In some of these buildings, the owners could not be traced and the tenants have either stopped paying monthly rent due to court cases, or have also failed to trace the owner. Thus, such buildings have become no one's property and the tenants continue to live in them, risking their lives.