Ludhiana MC yet to initiate action against 113 unsafe buildings in city

It was in 2019 that the municipal corporation (MC) had in a survey identified 113 unsafe buildings in the city which pose a grave danger to lives of residents. However, even after three years, the civic body is yet to initiate any concrete action against these unsafe structures, despite multiple building collapse incidents in the past few years.

The 2019 survey revealed that 64 of these buildings are in areas falling under Zone A, 21 in Zone B, 18 in Zone C and 10 in Zone D. An official, requesting anonymity, said the number may be as high as 150.

They are located in a number of densely-populated areas including Chaura Bazar, Daresi Road, Lakkar Bazar, Field Ganj, Shahi Mohalla and Iqbal Ganj Chowk. While many of them are vacant, some are also occupied or shops are being run on their ground floor.

Even as the risk of building collapse increases during the monsoons, due to strong winds and heavy rainfall, action by the civic body has remained limited to issuing notices to the owners, stating that they will be responsible for any damage to property or person in case of any untoward incident. A public notice had also been issued to the owners in July 2020, directing them to get the buildings vacated, but to no avail.

Different branches of the civic body have also been passing the buck to each other and the police department. An official of MC’s building branch, requesting anonymity, stated that the bridges and road (B and R) department is responsible for conducting the survey of unsafe buildings in the city.

As they have not done it this year, notices haven’t been served to the owners. Further, he stated that MC cannot get the buildings vacated and police has to do that, due to which a letter is also written to the latter every year.

Meanwhile, residents demanded that the civic body should demolish the buildings or at least get them repaired. Vinay, a resident of Daresi area, said that a few of these structures are in his locality and a person had even died after a portion of a building collapsed in Thapran Mohalla in 2015.

“MC should take strict action against the owners instead of just serving notices. If the owners are not demolishing the building, then MC should step forward and remove the unsafe portions to ensure safety of residents,” he said.

MC additional commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said that joint commissioner Ankur Mahindroo has been asked to prepare a report regarding the unsafe buildings. MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal is on an official visit to South Africa and further action will be taken after she joins back on Monday, said Dachalwal.

Court cases a major hurdle

MC officials stated that court cases are pending against many of the buildings, due to which no action can be taken by the civic body. There are many owners also who want to demolish the building, but the court is not allowing them to do so, they said.

One such owner of an unsafe building on Deepak Cinema Road, Ashok Kumar Behal, stated that it was constructed in 1940 and is unsafe for decades now. A portion of the building collapsed in 2013 and then in July 2021. Behal himself had a narrow escape as a portion of it collapsed on his two-wheeler, seconds after he parked it outside his shop in the adjoining building.

Behal stated that the tenant has filed a case regarding the possession of the building in court. “Even though I want to demolish it, the court is not allowing me to do so,” he said.