The city of Vasco awoke to the news late last week that two balconies of a dilapidated building had given way amid heavy rains and crashed onto the ground below. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. The latest incident means there have been at least half a dozen such incidents in the state this monsoon season and highlights not just the risk posed by dilapidated and neglected buildings but also how irresponsible owners are risking not just the value of their own property but the lives of neighbours, other occupants, including commercial occupants of a building, and the general public. The government has already promised to act against dilapidated buildings, but the law remains unclear.
The question is, where does the individual owner's liability to maintain their premises in a safe manner that does not risk the lives of others begin? And to what extent are they liable should something awful happen? Can they be criminally prosecuted for failing to maintain their premises in a manner that does not endanger the lives of others and lead to a tragedy?
Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar said that the owners of the premises should be prosecuted and an FIR lodged against them. But that’s more of a case of locking the stable after the horses have bolted. Across Goa there are many buildings whose condition can be best described as precarious. However, disputes between owners, conflicts between owners and tenants, and, at times, the owners’ indifference to the condition of the premises—as long as they continue to receive rental income—often lead to neglect.
Just as the government, in a bid to arrest the instances of houses collapsing during the rains, has made a special provision in the law for owners of houses to be given a ‘house repair certificate’ by the village panchayat irrespective of the status of ownership, the government needs to empower owners of flats and complexes to do the same in a manner that allows flat owners to regularly repair and maintain their buildings in a manner that is structurally safe even if they do not have the consent of their neighbours or the building committee. Many owners are not allowed to repair their own premises on account of disputes with neighbours and disputes among the managing committee of the building society.
The government also needs to empower the Collectors under the disaster management Act to -- under the threat of prosecution -- order home owners to maintain and repair their houses to ensure that they are not a threat to their neighbours’ houses as well as the structural stability of the building.
Enabling the community to watch out for, and highlight cases of dilapidated buildings with a clear pathway to tackle the issue legally under the disaster management act along with penalties and fines on home owners who fail to maintain their buildings in the manner required will go a long way in ensuring that buildings are at least maintained from a structural point of view, thereby not risking the life and property.
The current legal system needs to update itself, especially from a safety point of view, in the form of quick disposal of cases, and steep penal provisions for those who fail to comply. Goa has had its fair share of tragedies that have cost life and limb, and the state should not wait until a more serious tragedy spurs it to act.
