NEW DELHI: Connaught Place faces an unknown structural crisis. Since 1933 when it was built, Delhi’s top shopping and entertainment hub has never had a safety audit. Following the recent collapse of a portion of a building in its C block and subsequent closure of rooftop areas of restaurants revealed inadequacies in the historic building.
As Delhi falls in the seismic zone four (high risk damage zone), the safety of the area residents, establishments owners and thousands of visitors coming to the market daily is at stake in the heritage market that is in dilapidated condition.
Adding to the worry is the rising number of restaurants in the market. At the time of Commonwealth Games in 2010, there were 70 restaurants in CP, now the number has reached 170, which is presumably more than what the building is capable of handling, informed a high-ranking official in NDMC engineering department.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) claims the NDMC has not shared any disaster preparedness plans in the recent past with them.
“The DFS has not been informed about any planning to take fire safety measures in the area. The restaurants with a seating capacity of more than 50 come under our jurisdiction, while the ones with lesser capacity are NDMC’s responsibility. The buildings under the fire department possess fire safety clearances that were issued to them at the time of construction,” said Ajay Shukla, central station officer, DFS.
“But there is no regulation on bulk usage of PNG and LPG gas cylinders. All restaurants have a bank of LPG cylinders, which may lead to any mishap anytime. And evacuating building in case of a fire or a mishap will be a tough task due to the narrow staircases of the building made as per the old architectural plan.” Ideally the gas banks should be made in the courtyard.
This is not the end of the story. As many as 13 multi-storey buildings are operating on an expired Temporary Operational Certificate (TOC) around CP. A public litigation was filed in the high court. After hearing the case, the court ruled that the structural safety is the responsibility of the local authority.
“The department has asked all establishments in the market to provide structural safety certificates. If they are unable to do so, notices will be served,” Rajeev Sood, chief architect, NDMC told The Sunday Standard.