‘LMC can’t interfere in matters between tenants and owners’

LUCKNOW: After a part of the 80-year-old three-storey Narang building in Hazratganj collapsed on Monday evening, questions are being raised on why the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has not acted against crumbling structures in the state capital.

Hindustan Times spoke to municipal commissioner Indramani Tripathi to highlight the reasons why the problem of dilapidated buildings continues in the city.

Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Why has the LMC not acted against any of the owners of dilapidated buildings?

It is wrong to say that the LMC has not acted against owners of dilapidated buildings.

The municipal corporation has served notices to both owners and tenants living in 112 dilapidated buildings.

The notices say that those living in dilapidated building should either carry out structural strengthening of the building or demolish it for the safety of people.

But if people decide to continue living in such buildings despite understanding the risks, it is their fault. What are the problems the LMC faces in dealing with the issue of dilapidated buildings? The problem for the LMC is that it cannot interfere in matters between tenants and owners.

Most of the dilapidated buildings are facing court cases between tenants and owners.

In many cases, tenants want to reconstruct their portion, but the house owners don’t want this and they obtain stay orders from the court. People also obtain orders for not getting their portion of the house demolished.

So, although the LMC has the right to take action in such cases, it can’t?

The municipal corporation has the right to serve notices to owners of dilapidated buildings, asking them to carry out either structural strengthening or demolition under section 331 of the LMC Act.

It also has the power to demolish the building if it poses danger to human lives.

But the LMC is often dragged into the court by the tenants or the owners. LMC also faces issues in performing structural strengthening on private buildings.

Then what is the solution to this problem?

The LMC has the power to get such dangerous buildings evacuated under section 334B (of LMC Act) with the help of the district administration.

We have evacuated buildings in the past. But most of the times, tenants refuse to vacate the place where they have been living -- like in the case of Narang building.

These tenants had been told to leave the building, but they chose to continue living there, as they didn’t want to shift out.