Authorities inspect 4 buildings, interact with owners of establishment on ground floor ahead of GEC’s structural assessment
One of the dilapidated buildings inspected by the team. The inspection team comprising of Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi, PWD and Margao Municipal officials inspecting old buildings in the city.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Margao’s dilapidated buildings came under the scanner of a team of officials, comprising of representatives of the Goa Engineering College, PWD and Margao Municipal Council on Tuesday as they went about inspecting the old and dangerous buildings dotting the commercial capital.
The joint inspection, coming against the backdrop of directions issued by the South Goa District Collector, Egna Cleetus, comes ahead of the structural stability test that these buildings would undergo.
Tuesday saw the team comprising of the Head of Department, Goa Engineering College, Ganesh Hegde, MMC engineer Suhas Faldesai, and PWD officials Isha and Prince inspecting four buildings in the city which find a mention in the list of 21 dangerous and dilapidated buildings compiled by the Margao Municipal Council.
The team visited the Erasmo Sequeira Road, the Lohia Maidan Road to inspect the structures. They had an interaction with the owners of establishments operating on the ground floor of these buildings. Sources said the GEC will conduct the structural assessment of these buildings and take a call whether they come in the category of safe or unsafe buildings.
“We have just inspected the four buildings as part of the general assessment before the GEC team conducts the structural stability test. The remaining 17 buildings will be inspected in the coming days,” sources said.
Members of the team saw for themselves how the structure of a building having business establishments on the ground floor is posing danger to the pedestrians and motorists alike using the road. One of the team members has expressed surprise how the building had escaped the attention of the authorities all these years.
In her order, the South Goa district Collector, who is also the Chairperson of the South Goa District Disaster Management Authority had issued directions to the PWD officials to obtain structural stability reports from the Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi for unsafe buildings identified by the Margao Municipal Council.
The order dated May 28 last had stated that the Margao Municipal Chief Officer has submitted a list containing 21 buildings, which has been identified as unsafe dilapidated structures.
In Salcete taluka, a detailed list of these buildings is enclosed as Annexure A.
The Chief Officer, MMC had further submitted to the Collector that the concerned owners have not submitted the structural stability reports of the buildings lying in a dilapidated state.
After the Margao Municipal Council pointed out that it has no resources to initiate action against the dilapidated buildings, the Collector after considering the seriousness of public safety concerns, had directed the Executive Engineer, Works Division VIII, (Bldgs) PWD, Fatorda, Goa, to obtain structural stability reports for the 21 buildings.
