Portion of Junta House staircase ceiling collapses

Panaji: A portion of the staircase ceiling on the fifth floor of the Junta House collapsed on Monday night. Cleaning staff discovered the debris near the directorate of official languages, the only govt office on the floor, on Tuesday morning.“When we came to work in the morning, we saw the collapsed portion,” a staffer of the directorate of official languages said. He said he saw some portion of the slab chipped on Monday evening before he left the office. “Fortunately, no one was hurt,” he said.The six-storey building, once the tallest structure in the state capital, housed many govt departments with a public observatory on the terrace. In July, the North Goa collector declared the building unsafe, and notices were issued to all govt departments functioning there to vacate within 30 days.Some departments moved out, while others continued to operate from the dilapidated building even as their extended deadline ends this month. They were given extra time, until Dec-end, to continue to operate from Junta House, as they were unable to find alternative office spaces. The directorate of transport, department of civil supplies and consumer affairs, and Goa State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission are yet to shift.Meanwhile, the Goa Forest Development Corporation, directorate of planning, statistics and evaluation, labour and employment department, and the office of civic registrar-cum-sub-registrar moved out some time ago.