Odisha govt takes steps to demolish 221 unsafe buildings in Cuttack city

Bhubaneswar, Sept 19 (UNI) The state government has initiated steps to demolish 221 buildings declared unsafe in Cuttack city, Odisha’s erstwhile capital and a commercial hub, following the intervention of the Orissa High Court.

The division bench of Justices SK Sahoo and V Narasingh heard the matter yesterday. The bench had earlier asked the district administration to apprise the court of the steps taken on the demolition of the unsafe structures that endanger public safety.

The committee formed by the Cuttack district administration submitted a report to the High Court stating that 221 unsafe buildings have been identified. While 219 buildings are owned by public authorities, two buildings belong to private individuals.

As many as 15 cases under Section 152 BNSS have been initiated by the Sub-Collector, Sadar, Cuttack, against such persons/authorities to get the buildings vacated and take appropriate action for demolition of the buildings.

Section 152 BNSS refers to Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) of 2023, which outlines the procedure for removing public nuisances. This section empowers a magistrate to issue a conditional order to remove obstructions, harmful trades, dangerous buildings, trees, animals, tanks, wells, or excavations that pose a risk to public health, safety, or comfort.

Notices were duly issued against the person/authorities concerned, and they were heard personally on August 17 by the Sub-Collector, Sadar, Cuttack, who passed orders to vacate the buildings, an affidavit submitted by Cuttack Additional District Magistrate before the High Court stated.

Stating that a meeting was held on September 4 last, where all the stakeholders were present, the affidavit noted that a detailed deliberation was made for immediate compliance with orders passed in the cases under section 152 BNSS.

The representatives from the office of the Superintending Engineers, Cuttack Development Authority and the City Engineer, CMC were present in the said meeting.

The proposed action to be taken by each authority in the context of eventual demolition of the unsafe buildings has been clearly delineated in the report, it said.
Communication to take necessary action to the authorities other than the authorities who were represented in the Committee meeting and who are custodians/owners of the identified unsafe buildings have been made, the affidavit added.