UNB, Khulna :
Although 48 buildings have been identified as vulnerable and to be on the verge of collapse over the last eight years, only one has been demolished and the others remained untouched for lack of coordination among the authorities concerned.
After being listed as vulnerable, at least four people have reportedly been killed from such building collapses. In one incident, it was from a building which was not among the 48 listed by the Khulna City Corporation (KCC). Allegations are there that the plan to demolish the risky buildings remained confined to forming a committee, holding meetings and issuing notices. According to sources at the KCC and a report published back in August 2010, 26 of those buildings are fully uninhabitable, 17 comparatively less risky and the extended part of five more buildings have been considered to be risky.
Twenty-one of the risky buildings are owned by the district administration and one by the Public Works Department. Secretary of the Demolition Committee and executive engineer-2 at the KCC Md Liakat Ali Khan said lack of fund and approval from the ministry concerned is hindering the demolition process.
About the building collapse which was not in the list, he said the main building was fine but its extended portion was vulnerable. On May 4, the extended verandah of a four-storied building collapsed and fell on a 9-year-old girl, leaving her dead. It sparked a series of meetings to remove such buildings from the city and the KCC issued notices to the building owners concerned to leave the buildings on their own.
