Concerned over the collapse of building’s roof in Connaught Place, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) bosses have decided to come out with a policy to regulate structures installed on rooftops in the commercial centre. Many of these roof top structures are fragile and have been erected in gross violation of the NDMC rules.
The civic body will also be conducting a survey of all “dangerous” buildings in Connaught Place by end of this month to avoid such mishaps. The incident has highlighted the lack of maintenance of the roofs of most of the buildings in the markets situated in the heart of the city.
Roof of a vacant shop on top of Jain Book Depot in CP’s C-Block had collapsed last week raising questions about the structural stability of other buildings in the iconic market.
“It is important to have a policy to regulate rooftop installations as the structures cannot take any additional weight. The occupants will be asked to inform us about all mobile towers and water tanks installed on the rooftops and a survey will be conducted of all the dangerous buildings in the heritage market,” said a senior NDMC official.
NDMC had last week formed a six-member panel including structural safety experts from IIT-Delhi, CPWD, NDMC and the sub-divisional magistrate of the area to inspect the site and ascertain the reason behind the cave-in.
“A preliminary enquiry has pointed out that the roof collapsed because of additional load being put on the roof as one of the factors contributing to the collapse. The panel has been asked to submit its report within three weeks,” the official said.
“We will be asking occupants of Connaught Place to give an undertaking that roofs of their buildings were not being misused because as per the provisions of the health trade licence, no commercial activity is allowed on the terraces, which are supposed to be for fire-fighting and exit purposes,” the official added.