Physical survey could help identify weak buildings, prevent mishaps in Mumbai

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) plans to conduct a physical survey of the Mumbai city way back in 2010 failed to pick up. The plan was mooted by its special vigilance cell to physically survey the state of buildings especially from the thickly populated areas and initiate action if buildings are in dilapidated conditions and unsafe to live.

However, information gathered from the civic body revealed that it had floated tender to appoint agencies to cond physical survey in the city. Three agencies had submitted their financial bids but the entire process was scrapped citing administrative and technical reasons. Thereafter, the proposal in this regard was dropped.

The BMC's former chief of special vigilance cell and head of the main emergency control IC Sisodia told DNA,'' The idea was to cover all wards especially densely populated ones for a physical survey. If the survey provides a list of some buildings which are old and in poor conditions then the civic body would have issued notices to vacate them or initiated repairs and maintenance works. The tendering was done but it was never followed. Ultimately the physical survey never happened.'' He argued that if such surveys would have been conducted on a regular basis then the collapse of 100-year-old building in Dongri killing at least people could have been averted.