Deploy insurance to buttress safety

Deploy insurance to buttress safety

Reinforce or demolish unsafe dwellings.

The collapse of a decades-old four-storey building in Mumbai that has, so far, claimed 14 lives and left many injured was a tragedy waiting to happen. This is the second building collapse in Mumbai in less than 10 days, after heavy rains that often destabilise dilapidated structures. Accidents of this kind can happen anywhere in the country when safety norms are casually flouted. The standards for construction of residential houses are prescribed in the National Building Code (NBC). Buildings must periodically be examined and certified for safety, and those that fail to conform to the NBC must be demolished. One way to induce regular upkeep of buildings is to mandate insurance for buildings, paid for as an add-on to, say, property tax. However, if the building becomes unfit for human habitation, it must be demolished.

The neglect of maintenance and unauthorised alterations make older buildings unsafe. Officials and people’s representatives failing in their duty to ensure proper implementation of safety norms and those complicit in flouting these norms must be punished. Violation of safety norms is criminal, and looking the other way is not a choice. A part of the problem is antiquated tenancy laws that allow people to live on in rented accommodation for paltry rents, which, then, they are reluctant to leave even when certified to be unsafe. As responsible citizens, they must also recognise the importance of complying with safety rules.

Reportedly, heavy machines could not reach the collapsed building in the Dongri area in South Mumbai as the lanes — with overhead wires dangling — were too narrow to admit them. This results from missing urban planning. It needs focused attention. Cities such as Delhi are prone to earthquakes, making buildings in the Capital vulnerable. Mapping out the country into zones according to different degrees of vulnerability to earthquakes has been done. The need is to deploy the structural engineering that is required in the construction of every building in each zone to make them safe, and carry out periodic maintenance work.