Dilapidated buildings on GT Road in Bally. Pictures by Gopal Senapati

There are several dilapidated buildings in Bally Municipality that are becoming a growing threat to the residents, as the building department of the civic body prefers to look the other way. In the last three months, two buildings have collapsed and at least two persons were injured. None of the buildings were declared condemned before they collapsed.

“Bally is one of the oldest areas outside Howrah town where there are scores of such dilapidated buildings. Bally Municipality does not have any record of such buildings. Though some of them could collapse any moment, the civic body does not bother to declare them condemned,” said Reyaz Ahmed, the opposition leader in Bally Municipality.

On December 16, the staircase of a dilapidated building gave way at Sarkhel Para Lane, trapping an 85-year-old woman in the first floor of the two-storey building. It took the fire brigade nearly half-an-hour to rescue the woman using a steel ladder.

According to neighbours, Laxmimony Chatterjee, a resident of Sarkhel Para Lane in Bally, used to stay at her neighbour’s house for the past several years as her own house was in ruins for lack of maintenance. But she visited the house almost every morning and often cleaned the room in which she used to stay with her husband since her marriage. Laxmimony’s husband Makhanlal Chatterjee died nearly 30 years ago. “For the last 30 years, the building has not been renovated and it was turning into ruins rapidly. I do not remember whether any employee of the building department of the municipality ever visited the building and talked to the owner,” said Debasis Patra, in whose house the woman stayed.

The broken staircase of the building at Sarkhel Para Lane	Another building in ruins at Bally

Sarkhel Para Lane is a congested area where rows of buildings stand cheek by jowl. The residents said that if the entire building had collapsed on the road, there would have been a high casualty. “Whenever we pass by the building we feel insecure as it can fall on us any moment. But we do not know whom to approach. Such dilapidated buildings should be demolished immediately,” said Kalyan Chatterjee, a resident of Sarkhel Para Lane.

In October this year, a dilapidated building on GT Road near 54 route bus stand, collapsed injuring two. They had to be treated in a Calcutta hospital for nearly a month. Though the building was in a very bad condition it was also not declared condemned.

“Several rundown buildings can be noticed on GT Road but they have not been declared condemned. GT Road is a busy place. If a building collapses on the road, many will die,” said Tarun Banik a resident of Bally Badamtala. The chairman of Bally Municipality, Arunava Lahiri, admitted that he had no record of dilapidated buildings. He said, “The building department is under-staffed. It is not possible for them to visit every corner of the municipality and keep record. However, whenever, we come to know of any building posing a threat we take action.”