CALANGUTE: A portion of an old building collapsed in the Calangute market on Thursday morning, with owners of neighbouring shops shutting down over fears that the entire structure might come down during the incessant rains.
The over 100-year-old building with some shops located at the Calangute market junction is unoccupied due to litigation, according to the owner. After developing cracks in the last few days, the back portion of the building which was once occupied by a co-operative bank society collapsed on Thursday morning.
“It is in a very precarious condition. I’ve not been given possession by the litigator who is not co-operating and I cannot carry out any repairs,” the owner said. All the shops have been closed for some years because of litigation.
Pravin Korgaonkar, who has an old shop next to the building said he’s not opened his shop for the last week after it developed cracks. “It’s in a dangerous condition. If it collapses someone might get injured,” he said.
On Wednesday Korgaonkar along with activists posted a video on social media to highlight the situation as the building is located at the busy Calangute market junction and a lane adjacent to it is used by people visiting the market.
On Thursday morning, the Calangute Panchayat members along with MLA Michael Lobo visited the spot and said they would be writing to the Deputy Collector to declare the building unsafe and to demolish it immediately.
“It’s been raining heavily for more than eight days and the structure might collapse at any time. We have to take preventive measures to avoid an untoward incident,” the MLA said.
