NAGPUR: While Nagpur Municipal Corporation is set to conduct a mandatory structural audit to ensure safety and health of buildings older than 30 years, the threat of dilapidated structures collapsing is looming large. A senior NMC official said that before the onset of monsoon, NMC's all 10 zonal offices identified 373 dilapidated buildings across the city. NMC data reveal that the Gandhibagh zone had largest number- 112- of old, dilapidated structures, followed by Mangalwari zone with 88.

All the zonal officers have issued notices warning of a possible disaster during rainy season to the owners and tenants of 373 dilapidated structures. But the administration does not have any mechanism to ensure compliance of its notices. "This is a pre-monsoon exercise we carry out every year after surveying the buildings in corporation limits. We issue notices to the owners and the tenants well before the monsoon, warning of a potential threat and ask them to remove or repair the dangerous constructions," said a senior officer.

It has become an annual ritual for zones. The best example is Model Mill Colony in Ganeshpeth area. The two-storey building is in a dilapidated condition since many years, yet many families continue to live there. Many occupants even use windows to enter and leave their homes.

Though these buildings are occupied at present, the civic agency has taken no action to avert tragedy. "Most of these buildings are subject of family dispute or are occupied by tenants. However, residents do not take warnings seriously and many times oppose demolition leading to such a situation," added the officer.

Moreover, it is not possible for the civic body to check if people have complied with the directions. "It is a big task to keep a follow-up and we do not have sufficient manpower for that," he said. There is a state government decision empowering the civic body to cut electricity and water supply to those buildings that do not carry out repairs or are evacuated. But NMC has never used it. With this, the residents continue to live with the risk.