Several people were injured three days ago when a very old house collapsed in Kolkata.
This year, several men and women have died in the city after old houses collapsed.
But there are still about two and a half thousand such houses, which are classified as dangerous - of which 100 houses are extremely dangerous.
Not only are they supposed to live there, but many people have been living there for decades at the risk of their lives.
For example, there is a very ancient house on the ever-busy Lenin Street in Maulali, central Calcutta.
Bricks have come out, bots and baskets of ash trees are hanging from all sides.
Even at noon, one has to climb a dark staircase.
While passing through some semi-dark places, a piece of sky fell through the gap of the broken roof.
The family of the young Andrew Mandal has been renting a few rooms in this house for four men.
"The house was built in 1848. It's been about 170 years. Why not just me, my father was born here. In 2007, the corporation put a notice on this house as a dangerous house," said the young man.
[source](https://pixabay.com/photos/cyclone-forward-hurricane-storm-2100663/)
Andrew's father Anutosh Mandal is about seventy years old. He spent his whole life in this house. I wanted to know when the house is in such a state of disrepair?
Senior Mr. In Mandal's words, "This was not the case before. The house was bustling. All the houses were rented, and there were many in the backyard. As the owner maintained, we also repaired our own houses."
But after he died, his son said that it was not possible for him to take care of the house in his medical profession. He sold the house to a promoter just like us. "
Mr. The Mandals' family claimed that they were regularly suing and repairing the houses they lived in, despite lawsuits over their dilapidated rented house. So they are not afraid to live in such a dangerous house, they have become a habit.
I wanted to ask Debashish Chakraborty, Director General of the Building Department of the Calcutta Corporation, if the occupants of the building could not be warned in advance.
"It's just that no house has been identified as dangerous. The whole house may be fine. But the owners may not have noticed the porch or any part of it."
At the bottom, any pillars or any other important part may be weak inside, ”said Mr. Chakraborty.
Mr. Chakraborty said that although the house was not identified as dangerous, there are about two and a half thousand such dangerous houses in the entire city, of which 100 are extremely dangerous for living. Yet in many such homes people live at the risk of their lives.
In his words, "A common problem in homes that are often identified as old and dangerous is marital disputes. Lawsuits between owners - there is no coordination between anyone. It is not clear who will repair the house. Gradually the houses get worse."
Many houses in other major cities of India are also identified as dangerous, in those cities also old houses collapsed in the accident room.
But why are so many houses in Kolkata dangerous? I wanted to know from Manish Chakraborty, an architect who specializes in conservation and reconstruction of heritage buildings.
[source](https://pixabay.com/photos/villa-house-gloomy-dark-old-villa-3237114/)
"One of the main reasons why we have so many old houses in Kolkata is that the city has not seen an abundance of money for a long time. The picture is similar in southern Europe.
There is also an abundance of money, so whether it is a heritage building or a simple old house, there are a lot of them in southern Europe. Older buildings are more destroyed in developed cities - because capital has been invested there - new ones have been built. As has happened in London, "said Mr Chakraborty.