Even though monsoon had been around for over a month, the fire and emergency services department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation is still not having full details of dilapidated buildings in city. That has hampered NMC preparation to deal with any eventuality if one of these buildings were to collapse.
Sources said on July 5, the regional disaster management cell had sought information on dilapidated buildings in the city from 10 zonal offices. Only three zones handed over the list of these buildings to fire brigade enabling it to carry out a recce of the areas preparing a rescue plan for them. "Zonal office that responded are Laxmi Nagar, Gandhibagh and Lakadganj," said a source.
Sources said there were 95 dilapidated buildings across the city as revealed in a pre-monsoon survey conducted by the zonal officers. Many of them are in imminent danger of collapse. The survey revealed there are seven dilapidated buildings in Laxmi Nagar zone, 12 in Lakadganj, eight in Dharampeth, five in Hanuman Nagar, ten in Dhantoli, four in Nehru Nagar, 19 in Gandhibagh, 17 in Satranjipura, four in Asinagar and 13 in Mangalwari.
Sources from fire department said roads leading to the buildings were narrow, sewage and garbage disposal systems had collapsed leading to unhygienic conditions. "These structures are death traps, especially if there was a fire or collapse due to rains," said an officer.
He said enforcement department had issued notices to owners and residents of all these buildings, asking them to vacate it. However, he could not say why in spite of undertaking this exercise every year, why the buildings were still standing. Actually, it is extremely surprising that NMC makes preparations for their collapse but allows them to stand for years on end.
The fire department has even identified corporation schools as temporary shelters for the residents in each wards of the city in case of accident. Firemen said that with rent prices skyrocketing, a lot of poor families are living in dilapidated buildings because they couldn't afford better housing. "They can't afford to move out even though their lives are at risk," he said.
A case in point is collapse of a kitchen wall of a dilapidated house in Navin Babulkheda near Maitri Buddh Vihar. Luckily, nobody was injured. Firemen said that the landlord Sukhdeo Thomre was asked to demolish the house but he had rented the place to one Prabha Raut. Thomre acted after the mishap and demolished the house, the fire officer claimed.
He also cited the example of Model Mill Colony in Ganespeth area where many people are staying in dilapidated two-storey buildings. The buildings are in such a sorry state that occupants use a window to enter and exit it.
Sources said on July 5, the regional disaster management cell had sought information on dilapidated buildings in the city from 10 zonal offices. Only three zones handed over the list of these buildings to fire brigade enabling it to carry out a recce of the areas preparing a rescue plan for them. "Zonal office that responded are Laxmi Nagar, Gandhibagh and Lakadganj," said a source.
Sources said there were 95 dilapidated buildings across the city as revealed in a pre-monsoon survey conducted by the zonal officers. Many of them are in imminent danger of collapse. The survey revealed there are seven dilapidated buildings in Laxmi Nagar zone, 12 in Lakadganj, eight in Dharampeth, five in Hanuman Nagar, ten in Dhantoli, four in Nehru Nagar, 19 in Gandhibagh, 17 in Satranjipura, four in Asinagar and 13 in Mangalwari.
Sources from fire department said roads leading to the buildings were narrow, sewage and garbage disposal systems had collapsed leading to unhygienic conditions. "These structures are death traps, especially if there was a fire or collapse due to rains," said an officer.
He said enforcement department had issued notices to owners and residents of all these buildings, asking them to vacate it. However, he could not say why in spite of undertaking this exercise every year, why the buildings were still standing. Actually, it is extremely surprising that NMC makes preparations for their collapse but allows them to stand for years on end.
The fire department has even identified corporation schools as temporary shelters for the residents in each wards of the city in case of accident. Firemen said that with rent prices skyrocketing, a lot of poor families are living in dilapidated buildings because they couldn't afford better housing. "They can't afford to move out even though their lives are at risk," he said.
A case in point is collapse of a kitchen wall of a dilapidated house in Navin Babulkheda near Maitri Buddh Vihar. Luckily, nobody was injured. Firemen said that the landlord Sukhdeo Thomre was asked to demolish the house but he had rented the place to one Prabha Raut. Thomre acted after the mishap and demolished the house, the fire officer claimed.
He also cited the example of Model Mill Colony in Ganespeth area where many people are staying in dilapidated two-storey buildings. The buildings are in such a sorry state that occupants use a window to enter and exit it.
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