Buildings over 30 years old need safety certificate
Indian Express: In a move that was long overdue, the civic administration has tabled a proposal to the city improvement committee to make it mandatory for those who own buildings over 30 years old to submit safety certificates from a structural engineer. The initiative, aimed at ensuring the safety of those living in dilapidated buildings, also envisages appropriate steps to avoid untoward incidents.
City engineer Prashant Waghmare said the state had issued the directives and the onus would be on the building owner to submit the certificate to the civic body. If the owner fails to do so, the civic body can undertake a study on its own and recover the cost from the property owner. He said Section 265 of the MRTP Act should be amended to implement the proposal.
The proposal states that after 30 years, the building owner should submit a certificate on its condition every 10 years. The Pune Municipal Corporation will start an independent building repair and maintenance cell, headed by the city engineer, for the purpose besides making a budgetary allocation provision. The government has also asked the civic body to levy a fine of Rs 25,000 from those who fail to carry out the inspection of the structure as per the new rules.
“We will have to study the proposal carefully and clear all doubts so that the citizens should not suffer,” said Kiran Barttake, chairman, city improvement committee. He said around 70 per cent structures in the old part of the city had crossed the set limit of 30 years. Abhay Inamdar, a resident of a wada in Shaniwar Peth for the past 35 years, said, “Many people continue to live dangerously in the old wadas. The disputes between tenants and owners have put the lives of many at risk with no repair or redevelopment work.”
Earlier, the civic administration had sought the government’s approval for implementing the rehabilitation scheme for those living in old dilapidated structures (wadas) that are getting affected by the various infrastructure development projects.
The PMC had identified five locations in Sadashiv Peth, Shaniwar Peth Rasta Peth and Budhwar Peth to rehabilitate those getting affected by the redevelopment. However, the scheme is yet to take off.
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