Builders flout SC ban to make Mussoorie `unsafe'

Builders flout SC ban to make Mussoorie `unsafe'
BHAVNA VIJ

MUSSOORIE, FEBRUARY 17: Teetering on the edge of a steep slope, a hotel boasting of a revolving restaurant and a panoramic view of the Doon valley stands just on four pillars. Nearby are six-storeyed apartments, constructed in a similar precarious manner. All these structures would require an earthquake of a lesser intensity than Bhuj to collapse, killing hundreds.

Most buildings constructed on the hill station after 1984 have been declared ``unsafe'' by civil engineers and experts of Survey of India and the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI). Perched on a 30-degree slope, with the Himalayan fault line running right below it -- putting it in the highest seismically sensitive Zone V -- mussoorie is a tragedy waiting to happen.

The landscape of the hill station seems to mock the building rule -- no construction to be more than two-storeyed. Most buildings, especially hotels and other commercial and residential complexes, are multi-storeyed, going up to seven and eight floors. This despite a ban on all constructions, renovations and repairs, as per a Supreme Court order, since 1996. But fresh constructions are very much in progress, illegally and surreptitiously.

Stones, cement, bricks and `bajri' are found lying at various places. ``We know that illegal constructions are taking place. We go and stop it whenever we get a complaint,'' admits Manisha Panwar, Vice-Chairman of mussoorie-Dehra Dun Development Authority (MDDA). But the locals scoff at the MDDA claims.

``All constructions are taking place with the collusion of MDDA officials. Whichever builder offers them good money manages to get his work completed. Those who refuse to pay bribes cannot even get a window in their houses replaced. The MDDA inspector or junior engineer will land up, followed by a policeman, who will say that it comes under repair category, so you cannot do it,'' says Anil Pandhi, a resident of the hill town and also joint secretary of mussoorie Estate Owners' Association.

He explained one of the ways how the Supreme Court order was being flouted.``Though the Supreme Court banned all fresh constructions, it permitted completion of those buildings which had been made till the plinth level. This provision was misused by the builders, who, in collusion with the MDDA, the local municipal body and politicians managed to obtain certificates showing they had completed the work till the plinth level and went on with the construction,'' says Pandhi.

The rules are enforced only for those who cannot afford to bypass them. Interestingly, none of these rules apply to the government buildings. The Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Nagar Palika, MDDA and Institute of Technological Management (ITM) continue with their constructions and renovations.

The MDDA Vice-Chairman was on the defensive when asked about this. ``The Academy and ITBP have obtained no-objection certificates from the Central Government. The ITM is run by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and we have no jurisdiction over it,'' she said, unable to explain the constructions by MDDA and Nagar Palika.

Shockingly, there is no master plan or zonal plan for mussoorie. Travel writer Hugh Gantzer, a member of the monitoring committee set up by Supreme Court, says most of the relatively safer places in mussoorie have already been taken up for building activity.

``Most of the buildings that have come up in the past two decades lie on unsafe slopes and are grievously endangered. There are many buildings made on land which was used for limestone mining. There are old water causes running below them. Their foundations can never be secure,'' he said. There were many high-rise structures in mussoorie, standing in areas which not long ago were excavated for gravel and stone.

Author Ruskin Bond, who has adopted mussoorie as his home, says there seemed to have been virtually no supervision of buildings which came up in the recent past. ``The authorities should do a survey of all buildings and identify the unsafe ones and take measures to reinforce them,'' he said.

MDDA Vice-Chairman Pawar says they had only yesterday taken the decision to identify the vulnerable buildings in coordination with the earthquake engineering department of Roorkee University and the Central Building Research Institute.

``We have decided to enforce the ISI building code on all constructions, including government buildings. The CBRI told us that it needs to be updated, so we will do that. About the reconstruction and repair work in mussoorie, we have asked the Central Government for some clarifications, only then will we allow it. We know that the locals are concerned and want to reinforce their houses and buildings. We should get a reply from the Centre soon,'' she says.