Identify old, unsafe buildings in Mustafabad within 3 days: Minister

The Delhi Government recently issued directives to assess and enhance the structural resilience of the Capital’s buildings in wake of the devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar that claimed over 3,600 lives.

On April 9, The Tribune had exclusively reported about a Public Works Department (PWD) order in which it had mandated a comprehensive inspection of all buildings in the Capital and directed the development of a retrofitting plan for “critical infrastructure” within the next three months.

The goal was to fortify essential structures and ensure their preparedness for natural disasters.

The PWD had directed the field staff to take a series of steps regarding implementation of building code as recent earthquake in Myanmar had highlighted “the importance of adhering to building codes” and ensuring the “structural integrity” of critical building infrastructure in Delhi.

Notably, there are a total of 12 zones across the national capital. As per the civic agency estimates, the total number of buildings in the city is to be around 35 lakhs.

The MCD every year issues guidelines for the survey of all government offices, dispensaries, hospitals and municipal schools before the monsoon season and instructs that all necessary repairs in these buildings be done on a priority.

Now after a four-storey building collapsed in northeast Delhi’s Mustafabad area in the early hours of Saturday, Minister Kapil Mishra issued similar kind of orders to identify old and unsafe buildings in the area within next three days.

The Minister has issued clear instructions that “no construction work” should be allowed without government approval and a valid map.

“To prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future, old and unsafe buildings in the area will be identified and necessary action will be taken. For this, I have instructed the MCD Commissioner to survey the entire area within the next 2-3 days and prepare a report listing the high-risk buildings,” Mishra said.

The Minister assured the removal of illegal encroachments and appealed to citizens to carry out all construction activities as per the rules and government guidelines.