Over 80 buildings in city marked ‘unsafe’

AGRA: With five buildings – including two multi-storey ones – crumbling in the city since the monsoon showers began, Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) has set about marking structures that are unsafe. Over 80 buildings were marked unsafe in the city and residents have been asked to either move out or make the necessary repairs.
On Saturday, three single-storey homes that were part of row houses constructed under a state government scheme to house poor families collapsed, leaving two dead and several injured.Last week, two buildings collapsed in Freeganj after a large pit was dug at a nearby construction site. Although there were no casualties in the Freeganj incidents, more than 10 families were rendered homeless.
The municipal corporation, in a report accessed by TOI, has marked out buildings in Wazirpura, Bagh Muzaffar Khan, Nagla Mahadev, Bhairo Bazaar, Bellanganj, Chhatta Bazaar, Jeonimandi, Namak Ki Mandi, Haveli Bahadur Khan, Madanmohan Darwaza, Rawatpada, Hing ki Mandi, Seb Ki Mandi, Fillipganj, Johari Bazaar and Ghatiya Road unsafe.
Additional commissioner Anil Kumar of AMC told TOI, “We have identified nearly 80 dilapidated structures already. Teams under the supervision of executive engineer Rajiv Kumar Rathi will survey more residential areas and issue notices for evacuation or renovation of homes that risk falling under the impact of heavy rain.”
He said the maintenance of the buildings would be the responsibility of those living in them or owning them: “Our duty is to alert citizens about the need for action if a structure appears like it could be hazardous. As civic authorities, we mark a copy of the list of dilapidated buildings to the fire department and local police so that they can pressurize residents to take appropriate action.”