Odhav building collapse: AMC serves notice to 5 buildings in Odhav, 400 evacuated

After the building collapse on Saturday night in a government housing colony, the civic body has evacuated occupants of seven blocks as a precautionary measure. Around 400 people have been evacuated and taken care of by the civic body.

The civic body conducted a survey on Monday and declared five more structures unsafe. "Our team has inspected all the building units in Odhav and has found five units unsafe to reside. We have served them notices too. We are facing issues to evacuate them even with the help of police," said Amul Bhatt, standing committee chairman.

"For the time being, people have been asked to evacuate the buildings. The buildings were primarily found weak by a team of engineers. Now a team will carry out a detailed inspection of the blocks and accordingly will decide whether to demolish them completely or if they can be repaired," said Vijay Nehra, Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

City has 950 dilapidated buildings

The estate department has identified 950 buildings in the city that need attention. However, according to officials, all of them are not rickety. "All the 950 building are not rickety, but they need attention in maintenance. Of the total, around 8 to 9 per cent are rickety. The central zone has the highest number of risky buildings," said Rajesh Patel, town development officer, AMC.