Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) has identified 72 dilapidated buildings in the city that are over 100 years old, and issued notices to their owners and caretakers, asking them to carry out necessary repair work, warning them that the buildings can collapse during heavy monsoon rains or high winds, leading to loss of life and property.
The administration has also issued letters to all city police stations, asking SHOs to ensure suitable compliance on notices issued to residents of such buildings in their areas, and asked engineers to ensure residents vacate those buildings that are in very poor condition.
The city has 100 wards across four zones, with the most number of dilapidated buildings in Chatta zone, followed by Loha Mandi, Taj Ganj and Hari Parvat zones.
In the notices, issued under Section 33(1) of the UP Municipal Corporation Act, AMC has asked owners of dilapidated buildings to pull down damaged portion of the building in case it cannot be renovated. Sharing area-wise list ofdilapidated buildings, AMC administration has asked SHOs of police stations to check if owners are urgently following up as per notices issued to them.
Additional municipal commissioner K B Singh said, “We’ve identified 72 dilapidated buildings in four city zones that are unsuitable for living and can collapse during the monsoons. To prevent a major accident, we’ve issued notices to owners of these buildings. We have also asked area police to ensure they get the renovation done quickly, failing which, they should pull down the damage part of the buildings. The survey to identify buildings in poor condition is continuing in different parts of the city. More notices are likely to be issued soon.”
According to Section 331 of UP Municipal Corporations Act, 1959, if any structure is in a ruinous condition or is likely to fall and is dangerous to occupants, the municipal commissioner may, by written notice, require the owner or occupier to pull down, secure, remove or repair such structures to prevent any danger. In case of non-compliance, the corporation has the right to order demolition of the dilapidated structure.
