CHANDIGARH, Oct 3— The Chandigarh administration has set up a special committee to identify and audit unsafe buildings across the city, months after a three-storey hotel collapsed in Sector 17 earlier this year.
Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav has tasked the panel with assessing the structural strength and weaknesses of old and dilapidated buildings to ensure public safety. The committee will be chaired by the assistant estate officer-II and include the executive engineer (civil, chief engineer’s office), divisional town planner, and senior civil defence instructor from the DC office.
Officials said the committee will conduct on-site inspections and draw technical support from institutes such as Punjab Engineering College (PEC) and the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Sector 26, whenever required.
The body will also seek inputs from residents and government departments, lay down criteria for selecting buildings, and finalize the process for third-party structural safety evaluations. Reports of unsafe buildings will be forwarded to the respective sub-divisional magistrates, while owners will be notified of risks to their properties.
“Once the survey is complete, the administration will take steps to either strengthen vulnerable structures or initiate action to prevent accidents,” an official noted.
The move comes amid growing concern over the safety of aging structures in the city following the January incident in which a hotel building collapsed in the busy Sector 17 Plaza.
