Corporations yet to finish survey of all dangerous buildings in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The advancement of monsoon arrival date has put the dangerous building survey exercise under spotlight as Delhi witnesses several old and dilapidated structures collapsing during the rainy season every year.

Only 57% of the 11.4 lakh buildings have been surveyed in South Delhi Municipal Corporation jurisdiction areas so far and just four structures have been declared “dangerous”. Only one-fourth of the exercise has been completed in east Delhi. A senior East Corporation official said that out of over 2 lakh buildings, around 50,000 buildings had been surveyed. “The survey is still being carried out.”

North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s survey has identified 424 dangerous structures while 78.5% of the annual exercise has been completed. A report from the north corporation states that out of 83,4001 properties, teams from its engineering and maintenance department have so far surveyed 6,55,219.

“Out of the surveyed buildings, 265 are in need of repair while 424 buildings fall under ‘imminent danger’ category. Notices under sections 348,349 of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act have been issued to the owners,” mayor Jai Prakash said. He added that the rest of the exercise would be expedited.

The maximum number of dangerous structures is in Rohini zone (142) followed by Karol Bagh zone (96) and Civil Lines zone (83). Old Delhi areas under City-Sadar Paharganj zone have 21 dangerous structures while Keshavpuram zone has 75 dangerous structures and Narela seven.

The annual building survey is conducted three months prior to the onset of monsoon. Delhi witnesses several building collapses every year but because of poor accountability fixing mechanism, no lessons are learnt. In the capital’s biggest such case, a five-storey building collapsed in the Lalita Park area of Delhi in November 2010, which claimed the lives of 70 people.