The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has requested owners of all old buildings to get the structures tested by engineers.
This is for the first time when such requests have been made through paper insertions and hoardings. The step has been taken as due to lack of maintenance, often portions of old buildings collapse causing harm to human lives. In 2016, more than 20 persons were injured after portions of old buildings fell on them. It has been seen that every year, portions of old buildings which have not been repaired for years collapse during monsoon when the city is hit by incessant rain.
There are over 2,000 such old buildings in the city which have not been repaired and despite KMC's notice, people continue to stay in these houses risking their lives.
Meanwhile, the six-member committee that will identify old and dangerous buildings that are tenanted will start functioning from July 1. The committee is headed by joint municipal commissioner. The other members are director generals of town and planning and buildings (I and II), chief municipal law officer and two officials of the finance and audit department.
The borough executive engineer will identify such buildings which the committee will inspect. Then it will seek opinion from the civil engineers of Jadavpur University. The committee will request the owners to repair the buildings. If they fail to do it, KMC will auction the building and will hand them to private builders who will pull down and rebuild the houses where the owners and the tenants will be put up. The builder will get additional FAR for doing the job.
Senior civic officials said there are many old and dangerous tenanted buildings in the city where the owners could not be traced. These buildings are located in North and South Kolkata. In absence of the owners, most of the tenants have stopped monthly rents. To avoid complications regarding these buildings, the chief municipal law officer has made a member of the committee.
It may be recalled that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill 2017, that gives the KMC the right to auction the tenanted buildings that are old and dilapidated was passed unanimously in the Assembly in 2017.
Sovan Chatterjee, Mayor said: "We cannot let people die because of some old structures that have not been repaired for many years."
He hoped that the owners of such old tenanted buildings will cooperate with KMC.