Hundreds of houses declared unsafe in Nepal

Officials urge people not to stay in buildings marked red

Last updated:
2 MIN READ
AFP
AFP
AFP

Kathmandu: Hundreds of houses in quake-ravaged Nepal have been marked red and declared unfit to live, forcing many more people onto the streets, Gulf News can report.

Following the fresh 7.4 magnitude temblor on Tuesday, May 12, government teams, consisting of architects and engineers, have intensified inspections of houses in Kathmandu, and have begun marking them red, yellow or green indicating their safety levels. “A house marked red denotes it is unsafe to live in, yellow indicates the need for maintenance before moving in and houses marked green are safe,” a senior engineer from the Urban Planning and Building Department told Gulf News.

Officials have already marked two high-rise apartments, 19 government offices, and five hospitals in the Kathmandu valley as unsafe to use.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bamdev Gautam has urged people not to use buildings marked red.

The latest earthquake has killed at least 50 people, injuring more than 1,129 and bringing down hundreds of buildings.

It wrecked houses in a total of 32 districts including Dolakha, Kavre, Sindhupalchowk, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur.

Vinod Shresht, 47, lives in a middle class neighbourhood in Nayabazaar, Kathmandu. His building is one among the many that bear a big red dot on the outer wall.

Huge cracks run like varicose veins on one side of the wall of the five storey building, with fissures reaching up to the foundation.

“We have been told that the building is unsafe. But we don’t have any place to live other than this,” Shresht told Gulf News. He said many families living in the building have left to stay with relatives.

Beanmaya, a 43-year-old resident of Chautara said her six-room house had sunk in following the fresh quake. There are wide cracks and the roof has also partly collapsed.

Her husband and three children have been living under a temporary erected tin roof since the April 25 quake.

“I know it is very dangerous even to step inside the house,” said Beanmaya.

This reporter saw dozens of houses that were marked red and yellow in Sindhupalchok and Bhaktapur, but families were still seen living in them for lack of temporary shelters elsewhere.

Notices have been stuck on many buildings in Kathmandu that have sustained major cracks.

Kiran Banu, 31, a resident of Thamel said he, along with his wife and three-year-old daughter, was sleeping on the porch of his house after it was marked yellow.

“It needs maintenance. But now it is difficult to find workers,” Banu said.

Vinod Saha, a senior government engineer said many buildings have developed non-structural cracks.

“The current assessment has only told whether the high-rises are safe or unsafe for immediate use. A detailed study should be done to find out the actual condition of the buildings that have been marked with red stickers,” said Saha.

— The writer is a senior reporter for Xpress — a sister publication of Gulf News

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