E-Paper
Another building collapses, Bengaluru civic body under lens
The BBMP has skirted responsibility on the issue blaming the owners and contractors for the collapses in Bengaluru, overlooking at the approvals given by the agency.
Even as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ordered a survey of old buildings in the city, one building in Kamala Nagar,which is part of Mahalaxmi Layout, partially collapsed on Tuesday night while side wall of a house collapsed on Wednesday. The collapses in the last few weeks have raised questions on the civic body and its ability to monitor the construction of such structures. The building in the Mahalaxmi Layout which had partially collapsed on Monday night was razed on Wednesday by disaster management personnel.
“All the people who lived in those house’s and within the vicinity have been shifted elsewhere. Accommodation and food arrangements have been made for such families,” the BBMP said in a statement on Wednesday.
Sharing information on the other collapse, the civic body said, “An old Mangalore tiles house side wall collapsed around 10 am on Wednesday in Ward no 119, second cross, PVN lane, Nagarthpet. No injuries were reported as no one was stayed in the house for last 6 years; as per the neighbours. The house was also not under maintenance. Removal of debris will be started immediately.”
The city, since the last few weeks, has been witnessing a sudden spate of building collapses on account of non-maintenance of old buildings and construction with poor quality of materials and basic design flaws.
The BBMP has skirted responsibility on the issue blaming the owners and contractors for the collapses, overlooking at the approvals given by the agency.
Experts had also questioned the lackadaisical attitude of the BBMP. “ I think there is a need for a proactive approach, like the 15-20 year car policy, with regular checks on old and ageing buildings,” V Ravichandar, a Bengaluru-based urban infrastructure expert, told Hindustan Times.
Experts also point out violations of building permits by builders that is often neglected or has the tacit approval of officials.
“Because of the violations, the foundation of a building does not have the capacity to take the load,” Ravichandar said. “It is important to involve the community and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) for early identification of any signs of cracks or damage.”
BJP legislator from Mahalaxmi Layout and Cabinet minister K Gopalaiah on Wednesday said that action will be taken against the owners of the buildings. “The police will take action mercilessly against the owners,” he said.
He added that around 10 homes next to the dilapidated building in Mahalaxmi Layout has been evacuated to ensure there is no threat to human lives.
Stating that the building was among the list of dilapidated structures surveyed by the BBMP in 2009, Gopalaiah added that since the owner had not yet returned the rent advance taken from the tenants in the building, hence people were still staying there.
The BBMP carried out a survey of dilapidated buildings in Bengaluru and found that there were at least 185 such structures that had to be brought down. However, by the BBMP’s own admission, only 10 have been brought down so far while people continue to reside in the remaining ones, adding to the possibility of another catastrophe.
The BBMP had ordered a rapid survey of dilapidated buildings last month and had given itself a deadline to complete the exercise within 15 days.
Gaurav Gupta, the BBMP’s chief commissioner on Wednesday said that there were 185 dilapidated buildings in the 2019 survey, of which only 10 have been demolished and action was being taken on the remaining ones.
“The new survey had a 15 day deadline and we have got preliminary results,” Gupta said in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
There have been at least six buildings that have collapsed in Bengaluru in the last couple of weeks and Gupta had instructed zonal joint commissioners and chief engineers to form a committee to conduct a resurvey of dilapidated buildings and submit a report within 15 days.
On September 30, revenue minister R Ashok held a meeting with BBMP, the city’s civic body, to take stock of old and dangerously unstable buildings in the city.
Most of Benglauru’s public infrastructure is crumbling as roads are full of potholes, uncleared garbage, unplanned expansion of the city, encroached and toxic lakes and flooding of homes, offices and streets during heavy rains, making life miserable for the over 12 million residents of a city that aspires a global status on account of its prowess in technology, startups and aerospace among other sectors.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), at least 18 people in Bengaluru are said to have died due to negligence of civic bodies in the whole of last year which is more than six times of such fatalities recorded across at least six other urban centres in the country including Delhi and Mumbai.
The BBMP has blamed the heavy rains witnessed in Bengaluru as the reason for some of these deaths and accidents but has never clarified why the quality of roads and civic infrastructure in one of India’s richest cities remain this poor.
