TMA declares 200 buildings dangerous

[Salman]

TMA declares 200 buildings dangerous

Rawalpindi : The Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has declared around 200 dilapidated buildings dangerous, which could collapse anytime, particularly during the forthcoming monsoon season.

These old buildings located at Jamia Masjid Road, Namak Mandi, Dalgaran Bazaar, Arya Mohallah, Bhabra Bazaar, Kashmiri Bazaar, Kohati Mohallah, Mareer Hassan, Sarafa Bazaar, Ganjmandi, Waris Khan, Liaquat Road, Bara Bazaar, Circular Road, Banni, Shah Nazar Pull, Bagh Sardaran and along Benazir Bhutto Road pose grave threat to the lives of people living in and around these structures, but the concerned authority is taking the matter lightly. While, some sections of these dilapidated buildings have already collapsed and more sections are collapsing with regular intervals. Majority of these buildings have been locked for years.

Talking to ‘The News’ here on Wednesday, Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) Town Officer (Regulation) Malik Tauseef Ahmed said that these dilapidated buildings could collapse anytime. “We have served notices to all building owners to start renovation work otherwise strict action would be taken against them,” he added.

Talking to ‘The News,’ people living around these buildings said that the concerned authority is perhaps waiting for a disaster to spring into action. “We have submitted many applications to the concerned authority to either demolish these old dilapidated buildings or start renovation work, but they are not taking any action in this regard,” they added.

Raja Nasir Mehmood, a resident of Kashmiri Bazaar said that he is living adjacent to an old dilapidated building, which has been locked for very long time. “The upper portion of the building has already collapsed and the remaining sections might collapse any time, but the concerned authority is not taking any action despite our repeated complaints,” he said.

Riaz Ahmed Shaikh, a shopkeeper in Ganjmandi, said that old dilapidated buildings pose a grave risk. These buildings could collapse anytime, therefore, the concerned authority should act immediately, he said.