120 unsafe bldgs found across 18 dists in Odisha: Govt survey

Bhubaneswar: As many as 120 unsafe buildings have been identified across 18 districts, according to recent govt assessments presented by works minister Prithiviraj Harichandan in the state assembly in the ongoing Budget session recently.According to the minister's reply, the highest concentration of unsafe buildings was in Cuttack (22), followed by Bargarh (11). The minister’s reply revealed that buildings of varied sizes were declared unsafe and instructions were issued to the local body concerned to take action. These included school buildings, hospitals, staff quarters and govt offices.The minister stated that local bodies in districts such as Khurda, Ganjam, Rayagada, Nuapada and Bargarh were instructed to intensify field surveys of old govt quarters, school buildings and private commercial units and submit demolition or reconstruction proposals for structures marked unsafe.Urban safety experts said that the unsafe buildings under discussion belonged to the works department and if an estimate was made for all structures, the number would go significantly up. “This is high time that the govt takes corrective measures after this revelation,” urban planner Dipu Nanda said.On Nov 8 last year, a five-year-old and two others died, while another two were critically injured when an old apartment’s balcony caved in and crashed into an adjacent asbestos-roofed house at Mani Sahu Chhak in Cuttack. The incident led to Cuttack Municipal Corporation to take corrective steps after civic body officials revealed that the structure — long abandoned and structurally fragile — was neglected despite repeated concerns raised by locals.