BENGALURU: The BBMP has not maintained a detailed dossier of vulnerable and dilapidated buildings in the city. An official from the BBMP Disaster Management Cell said that around 194 buildings were found to be in bad condition in 2019, but the BBMP declared there were 178 high-risk buildings in the city. “The survey of all structures in Bengaluru was to be taken up by the engineering and town planning sections of BBMP. But it stopped after a few buildings were surveyed because of lack of seriousness among officials and the Covid outbreak.
Buildings that are over 20-50 years old should be checked as most of them are occupied by economically weaker sections,” the official said. The survey work was handed over to joint commissioners, who passed it on to assistant executive engineers and then to ward engineers, and was left at that. After a fire broke out at an apartment in Devarachikkanahalli, BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta issued an order, stating that the 2016 National Building Guidelines should be complied with.
“How can the guidelines be adhered to? BBMP, Bescom, BWSSB and fire department don’t coordinate with each other to conduct a field survey before giving the clearance. That is why building plans are violated and buildings collapse. The authorities should be thankful that no casualties have been reported in the two building collapse incidents. But no one is talking about the condition of roads leading to these residential complexes. They are not suitable for fire vehicles or ambulances,” the official said.
The Bengaluru deputy commissioner’s office has listed 6,077 illegal layouts in Bengaluru and officials think most buildings in these layouts will be in a bad condition. “In the draft disaster document being prepared, flood-prone, low-lying, fire-prone and other such areas were being included. But now it has to include buidings too,” said a senior official from the Bengaluru DC’s office.
How buildings are checked
Surveyors will analyse construction material used, original plan approval records, deviations, excavation and foundation, setbacks, ventilation, seepages, exit and entry points
The Vulnerability Atlas also checks if structures are thatched roof huts, concrete buildings, whether they are vulnerable to flooding or heavy rain or lightning