The balcony of the ill-fated building near the ITI Borda that came crashing down in the wee hours of Saturday. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
Old and unsafe buildings dotting the commercial capital have come back to haunt the authorities again after a balcony of an old building collapsed at Borda near the government ITI building.
The incident occurred in the wee hours of Saturday when the balcony came crashing down. Fortunately, there were no vehicles parked below the building at the time of the accident nor was there movement of people in the area.
However, the collapse of the balcony has raised a host of questions, more when the local residents had been knocking the doors of the authorities, including the Margao Municipal Council to initiate action against the old building.
In fact, a local resident Dilip Borkar told the media that he had complained to the Margao Municipal Chief Officer way back on June 6, 2023 about the dangerous building in the vicinity.
“The building has been standing in a very dangerous condition and likely to collapse during the monsoon season which may cause serious danger to our house. The slab pieces and plaster has already started collapsing”, Borkar had stated in his complaint to the MMC Chief Officer.
Sources, however, pointed out that no action was forthcoming from the Margao Municipal Council for reasons unknown. However the incident will again bring to the fore the inaction of the authorities in taking measures vis-à-vis old and dangerous buildings dotting the commercial capital.
Ex-Margao municipality councillor Camilo Baretto said that the authorities should carry out an immediate exercise to identify the old and dilapidated buildings posing danger to the lives and property of citizens.
Meanwhile, former municipality councillor Ramdas Hazare has demanded to know what action the civic body had taken after the Borkar family had lodged a complaint in 2023 with the Chief officer about the dangerous building.
