Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, on June 3, issued an order  to demolish 97 buildings in the city within 15 days. With monsoon season approaching, NMC conducted structural audit of many buildings in the city and declared 173 buildings as dilapidated and unsafe.

Confirming the news to Nation Next, Manish Soni from NMC said, As per state government directives, we surveyed buildings in the city and found out that 173 structures were unsafe to reside. While 97 of these building will be demolished, rest of the buildings will be undergo repairs and some other changes to make them safe.

Mundhe has issued a public notice warning the apartment owners of these 173 buildings of action and penalty of Rs 25,000 in case they refuse to obey the orders within the prescribed time period.

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The NMC notice has been issued under subsections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Section 264 of Maharashtra Municipal Corporations (MMC) Act. According to the notice, 97 buildings have been declared totally ?unsafe? under category C-1; residents in these building have been asked to vacate teh building, which will be demolished within 15 days.

The 25 buildings under C-2A category need to be vacated and necessary repairing and strengthening works will be done. 35 buildings under C-2B category have been ordered repair work without vacating them. 16 buildings under category C3 will have minor works without vacating them.

As per section 265 of MMC Act, owner or occupant of the building is responsible for inspecting and keeping the building safe. It is mandatory to get structural audit done for buildings with life of over 30 years from structural engineers empanelled by the NMC. Also, it is mandatory to inform the NMC if any portion or entire building is dilapidated or collapsed, the notice stated. NMC will be giving certificate to the owners after completion of repairing works suggested by the structural engineers.