LAHORE - Three passersby got seriously wounded yesterday when a dilapidated building collapsed on them in the walled city.
Hundreds of structures located in the walled-city are declared as dangerous but occupants are unwilling to vacate the sites sans substitute arrangements and compensation.
According to a report of the city district government published in 2011, at least 1100 old buildings were posing a serious threat to the lives of thousands of citizens in the provincial metropolis. The government had marked these structures as dangerous. Two motorcyclists and a passerby were wounded critically when the portion of the multi-storey structure collapsed on them in Rang Mahal yesterday afternoon. They were rushed to the Mayo hospital, where their condition was said to be out of danger.
The three-storey building located near Dabbi Bazaar in Kocha Kundi Graan was in dilapidated condition, an official of the walled-city authority said. “The building caved in yesterday was also decaled as dangerous by the government,” said Zulfikar Ali Ghouri, a local general-councilor. He said the authorities were not demolishing dangerous buildings despite repeated requests by the residents.
Dozens of residents gathered in the main Dabbi Bazaar yesterday and staged a protest demonstration against Walled City Authority. The protesters said that the authority wanted to renovate all the old buildings instead of demolishing the dangerous structures.
“Those buildings which are posing a serious threat to the lives of the residents and the passerby in narrow streets, should be demolished immediately,” said Ghouri, who led the protests against the authority. He said that the government must take steps to protect the lives and properties of the poor living in shabby buildings in the walled city.