| Amritsar residents living in danger zone |
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| Written by Shaheen P Parshad, Chandigah Newsline | |
| Monday, 06 August 2007 | |
 Amritsar. Residents of the walled city are living under the constant threat of their roofs giving way, but the Municipal Corporation and the Municipal Town Planning authorities continue to play possum. These unsafe buildings are situated in the middle of the most-frequented public places and are in such a state that they cannot bear the strain of light showers.The city has more than 109 old and dilapidated buildings, and majority of them are in the walled city area, said sources. MC authorities have categorically declared some of these buildings as unsafe and put up a board saying so, but are yet to do anything about these structures, bits of which often keep falling. A case in point is an unsafe building situated at Sarai Guru Ram Das area near the Golden Temple. "The building is situated dangerously close to the Golden Temple and poses a hazard to the security of the people living nearby as well as the devotees visiting the shrine," said Santokh Singh, an area resident. Similar is state of five-storey building in Gali Suniarian in Namak Mandi which can collapse anytime. Not only is this structure standing on few bricks, but the ground beneath has also started caving in. Deepak Kumar, a resident of the area, said the matter had been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned, but none have so far visited the place. "We are constantly living under threat," he added. Residents said a month ago, a part of the wall had collapsed and fallen on the terrace of the adjoining house. Shakti Bhatia, Municipal Town Planner, said the department was aware of the situation, but in many cases the buildings were disputed and had been declared dangerous after sending notices to their owners. "If at all any loss of life or property occurs due to the collapse of these buildings, the owners will be held responsible," he said. |
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