Now, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials are worried over the ‘poor condition’ of buildings in the city that are on the verge of collapse.
Officials said that if prompt action is not taken, it may lead to more catastrophic consequences in the near future. Hence, the civic agency is issuing reminders to the building owners to raze the structures in question, failing which the BBMP will be forced to do so.
As per a survey, there are 629 ‘faulty’ buildings in the city. The maximum buildings are in south zone (216), followed by west (160), east (101), Yelahanka (84), Mahadevapura (37), Bommanahalli and Dasarahalli (11 each) and nine in RR Nagar.
“Out of 629, we have issued notices to 423 building owners asking them to raze their buildings. If they fail to do so, then we have to hire a private contractor to bring the buildings to the ground. We will collect the razing cost from the land owner,” a senior BBMP official said.
In August this year, an old three-storeyed building collapsed near Chickpet due to the continuous downpour. As a result, a fancy store and three plastic products’ shops were reduced to rubble. Fortunately no one was hurt. These incidents of building collapse in Bengaluru have raised questions over the safety of buildings. In the last few decades, there have been multiple incidents that claimed lives. Activists are questioning as to what is stopping the BBMP from acting against building owners.
A BBMP official said the process is taking time as they want to do a proper job of surveying. We had done a survey earlier. However, with a spate of building collapses, we decided to re-inspect the buildings which have been surveyed earlier. A team of officials visited these buildings to check if they were fit for residing or not. If the buildings were declared unfit, then officials asked the residents to move out. Notices were issued to the owner for necessary demolition.”
The year 2021 was one of the wettest in terms of rainfall in Bengaluru city. As a result, a series of building collapses began with a three-storey building in Lakkasandra. This was followed by another old building near Dairy circle. The residents escaped with minor injuries.
“If we look at the building collapse in Lakkasandra last year, the three-storeyed building had developed cracks and came down in less than 5.5 minutes. This is proof that the residents won’t have much time to escape.
Now, imagine if there are residents in all the three floors and how much time the residents would need to get out especially with only one exit as most of these buildings have only one staircase. This issue should be treated on priority basis and action should be taken at the earliest,” said Rakesh S, an activist.