Buildings

Nitish stresses on making buildings earthquake-proof

Patna: There is a need to make buildings earthquake-proof and these constructions should comply to green norms, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Friday. "Large parts of Bihar comes in earthquake zone four-five hence there is a need to make building earthquake-proof and follow green norms," the CM said addressing Indian Building Congress function in Patna.



The CM said the devastating earthquake in Bhuj in Gujarat was an eye-opener and it highlighted the need to make buildings resist earthquake. He emphasised on providing training to masons for this. Kumar said we need to take lessons from earthquake prone Japan which has developed building technique that helps in avoiding damage to property or human lives in case of collapse of building in earthquake.

...more    

Thane: Buses damaged as bandh begins against demolition

Thane: A bandh called by major political parties in Thane against ongoing demolition of illegal structures without providing alternate accommodation to the occupants began with some persons damaging at least 12 buses in the wee hours on Thursday, police said. Parties, including the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena, gave call to the dawn-to-dusk shutdown against the razing of illegal buildings by Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC)...  

Mumbai illegal buildings: Police call for zero tolerance against corruption

Mumbai: Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh termed the act of constables accepting bribe to allow illegal constructions in the city as "shameful" and said there should be "zero tolerance for such criminal conduct". Thirty-six policemen were suspended on Thursday after a sting operation exposed the nexus between the police and builders for illegal constructions in the city. The sting operation, conducted by a social activist, showed 15 police constables accepting...  

Thane: NCP MLA prevented Forest Dept from demolishing illegal buildings

In June 2011, officials of the forest department had complained to the Chief Secretary of Mahraashtra against local NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad. They stated that their officials were forcibly stopped and threatened by Awhad's supporters when they were demolishing illegal encroachments in the same area where the building collapsed. The NCP MLA has, however, defended his action. ...

Illegal constructions: 'Constables taking bribe won't be spared'

Mumbai: Thirty-six police constables were suspended after a sting operation exposed the nexus between the policemen and builders. The sting operations, conducted by a social activist, showed 15 policemen accepting bribe to allow illegal constructions in Mumbai's Kurla area. The expose comes a week after an illegal building collapsed in Thane killing 74 people. While the Mumbai Police has initiated an inquiry against the accused policemen, the Maharashtra government has...  

Thane: NCP MLA stopped Forest Dept from demolishing illegal buildings

Thane: A week after a building collapsed in Thane's Mumbra area killing 74 people, Network 18 has accessed documents which show that local Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad had prevented the Forest Department from demolishing illegal constructions in the area despite a court order. The documents reveal that the Forest Department had complained to the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra but no action was taken against Awhad. The seven-storey...  

6.3 magnitude quake kills 32 in Iran's Bushehr province

Tehran: At least 32 people were killed and 850 injured when an earthquake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, hit Iran's Bushehr province on Tuesday. According to Iran's Seismological Centre, the city was later hit by 13 aftershocks. The temblor, having its epicentre at a depth of 12 km, struck Kaki city of the province in the afternoon, Xinhua reported. Bushehr province's governor Fereidoon Hassanvand said some 700 buildings were...  

Mumbai building collapse: Is the politician real-estate mafia nexus responsible?

In one of Maharashtra's worst building collapses in a decade, 58 people have died and 61 have been injured after a seven-storeyed building in Laxmi Compound in Mumbra, a suburb of Thane, crashed down like a pack of cards into a heap of rubble on Thursday evening. However, even after a day, authorities are struggling with rescue operations. ...

Is Municipality as much to blame as builders for Thane collapse?

Thane: In one of Maharashtra's worst building collapses in a decade, 58 people have died and 61 have been injured after a seven-storeyed building in Laxmi Compound in Mumbra, a suburb of Thane, crashed down like a pack of cards into a heap of rubble on Thursday evening. However, even after a day, authorities are struggling with rescue operations. A population spurt in the Mumbra-Kalwa belt in Thane district has...  

Myanmar communal riot: Death toll rises to 40

The death toll in a communal riot in Myanmar has risen to 40, according to an official media report Tuesday. The toll rose from 32 as eight more bodies were found when troops cleared the wreckage in the wake of the riot which lasted three days in Meikhtila from March 20, leaving 9,600 people homeless. ...  

Myanmar communal riot: Death toll rises to 32

The death toll in a communal riot in Meikthila in northern Myanmar has risen to 32, state-run media reported. According to Xinhua, the state radio and TV said in a broadcast that many bodies were found while clearing the debris. ...  

Kolkata: Activists struggle to preserve heritage buildings

Deborshi Roy Chowdhary has seen his ancestral home, dating back to the Mughals, bought and torn down. An apartment complex will now stand in place of his house, burying the history of one of the oldest zamindar families of Kolkata. And Roy Chowdhary is not alone. Kolkata is fast losing its heritage structures because of fractured families, pending litigation and high maintenance costs. ...  

Google to build new $1.6 billion headquarters in London

Google is developing a new UK headquarters which could be worth as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) when finished. ...  

US buildings attacked in Egypt, Libya; one dead

Washington: Anti-US protests against an American-produced film which allegedly insults the Prophet Mohammed, took a violent turn in the Middle East as the US Embassy in Cairo was attacked and its consulate at Benghazi in Libya was set on fire reportedly killing one American consular official. US officials were, however, were reluctant to establish any link between the two incidents on Tuesday in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and Benghazi, the...  

T'puram: Fire safety norms for NOCs amended

Thiruvananthapuram: Orders were issued on Tuesday revising the norms for issuing NOCs for buildings after assessing the fire safety measures. For single-storey buildings up to ten metres in height, the NOC will be issued by a committee headed by the Assistant Divisional Officer of the Fire and Rescue Services. The officer in-charge of the fire station concerned, Assistant Station Officer and a Fireman (on rotation basis) will be the members...  

Mysore heritage structures under threat

Mysore: Mysore city known for its heritage structures and palaces will soon lose its tag if the government fails to put in place a Heritage Act, to check people from demolishing these structures. The heritage structures are also under threat as most of the 198 identified structures need immediate attention, as they are in a dilapidated condition. Former chief minister S M Krishna declared Mysore a Heritage City, and constituted...  

Engineering a tragedy in Hyderabad?

Hyderabad: Lack of coordination between the town planning and the engineering wings of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is assuming alarming proportions and if things go this way, peoples lives could be in danger. The town planning wing had identified 198 dilapidated buildings in the twin cities last month and decided to demolish them in public interest. Though its officials claim to have demolished 42 buildings till date, they...  

183 buildings in Old Hyderabad face demolition

Hyderabad: Besides the 400-odd dilapidated buildings in the core areas of the twin cities, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has identified another 183 which might collapse at any moment. The Andhra Pradesh Lokayukta had in its order last month directed the civic body to see to it that action as mandated under the GHMC Act with regard to old buildings is taken and submit a report to it on...  

Writers' Buildings turns into fortress for Clinton's visit

Kolkata: Writers' Buildings, the state secretariat, has turned into a virtual fortress as part of heightened security ahead of the meeting of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on May 7. The meeting will take place in the morning hours, a secretariat source said. American Center officials were yet to confirm the time of Clinton's arrival from Dhaka on Sunday and her programmes...  

MCD Polls: Safety of buildings remains a concern

New Delhi: Delhi has been feeling the effects of several minor earthquakes in the past few months. In such a situation, an important election issue is building safety and illegal construction. But as CNN-IBN found out, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) may not be doing much to address the problem. More than 70 people died and hundreds were injured when the Lalita Park building came crashing down two years...