The 101 dilapidated buildings in Comilla city of which owners received
order from the authorities to pull down them within 15 days still
exist in their same position.
Even 28 days after issuance of the demolition notice, the owners have
not yet taken any steps regarding the risky buildings.
Nor has been seen any measure from the Comilla City Corporation (CCC)
side to demolish the dilapidated structures.
The city corporation authorities sent letters separately to the
building owners on April 29 with order of its mayor Monirul Haque
Sakku giving them a 15 days’ deadline to raze the old risky
structures.
The letters directed the owners to pull down the buildings at their
own initiative and expenditure; otherwise the job will be down by the
CCC with its own efforts.
The buildings include government offices, residential houses of
government officials, commercial complexes and political party
offices.
On May 31, 2009, the Comilla municipality authorities prepared a list
of 66 old and vulnerable buildings and its chief executive officer
Arif issued a notice to the building owners on June4 asking them to
demolish those.
Only six buildings of the 66 were demolished and reconstructed
responding to the notice of the municipality authorities.
After up-gradation of Comilla pourasabha to city corporation, the
authorities made another list of old and risky buildings where names
of 41 more were added as ‘dangerous’.
The corporation first made a list of 14 buildings of the 41 on April
25 this year and again another list of the rest 27 on 28 April.
The authorities issued separate letters to the owners of all the 101
risky buildings on April 29 to take steps for dismantling those within
15 days.
The notice mentioned that the buildings will be demolished by mobile
courts led by magistrates if those were not pulled down within the
deadline.
But no steps have been taken regarding the buildings by the city
corporation although the deadline ended a couple of weeks ago.
Apart from the 101 buildings, there are seven more risky buildings in
the city, which were constructed violating the building code.
The corporation sources said the administration gave separates notices
to three of the building owners in this regard.
(UNB, Comilla)
