Dilapidated buildings in Rawalpindi pose grave danger

Rawalpindi
The dilapidated buildings in the city pose a grave danger to people in the wake of earthquake aftershocks. Over 150 buildings had been declared unsafe by the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) in its jurisdiction long ago.
Not only dilapidated buildings, but huge billboards in every nook and corner of the city are a life risk.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, aftershocks are expected in the country, including twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. PMD Director Dr. Muhammad Hanif has warned people living in dilapidated buildings and asked them to leave such premises immediately.
According to a survey conducted by ‘The News’, there are many buildings on the verge of collapsing. After Monday’s earthquake, the condition of such buildings has become risky as big cracks appeared in several of them. Some of the buildings are locked, but the majority of such buildings are being used by families for years.
The senior officials of the RTMA’s building department, on the condition of anonymity, said that these structures are too old to be used anymore and could collapse in case of a tremor of even moderate intensity.
A strong initiative, however, is missing on their part to either pull down these dangerous structures or get them repaired. Things get more alarming seeing that the populous town is located on a seismically-active fault line.
The RTMA is in the habit of serving vacation notices on families inhabiting these buildings just before the start of every monsoon. Most of these notices go unnoticed due to the RTMA’s inefficiency. Among these dangerous buildings are Government High School Ziaul Uloom, Raja Bazaar; Government High School, Liaquat Bagh; Government Pehlvi School, Faizabad; and Haveli Suhan Singh of Bhabra Bazaar, while others are mostly residential houses.
When ‘The News’ contacted Town Officer (Regulation) Tousif Ahmed, he said that they are continuously sending them notices to vacate dilapidated buildings. Some people vacated, but the majority of them not, he claimed. He said that they are continuously monitoring dilapidated buildings but they could not use force against residents to vacate such buildings.
The statistics say 41 dangerous buildings are located in Bhabra Bazaar, 27 in Shah Chan Chiragh, 17 each in Saidpuri Gate and Lunda Bazaar, 11 in Nishtarabad, 12 in Chittian Hattian, 8 in Peshawari Gali, seven in Mohallah Waris Khan, five each in Bohar Bazaar, New Sarafa Bazaar and Dhakki Mohallah, six in Nayya Mohallah, three each in Mohallah Niarian, Bazaar Talwaran, Purana Qila and College Road area, two each in Shah Chan Bazaar, Mochi Bazaar and Raja Bazaar, and one each in Chhachhi Mohallah, Alam Khan Road, Jhangi Mohallah, Rani Bazaar and Chowk Bansanwala.
Talking to ‘The News,’ people expressed concern over the presence of dilapidated buildings and appealed to the authorities to resolve this issue immediately to avoid any untoward incident.