The Delhi High Court in the case Arpit Bhargava and Anr. v. Vijay Kumar Dev & Ors observed and has directed the city authorities to conduct a structural audit of buildings of all hospitals, schools, and colleges in the national capital to check the stability of them during earthquakes. The Division bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna in the case observed and has directed the authorities for filing the status reports on the aspect.
In the present case, the court was dealing with the Public Interest Litigation, PIL moved by a lawyer, Advocate Arpit Bhargava, wherein he claimed that the seismic stability of buildings in the city was poor and that there can be a large number of casualties if there is a major earthquake. The court in its order stated that that the structural audit of the buildings be done by the authorities within the period of three weeks.
It has been submitted by the counsel appearing for the Delhi Government that the plan of action has been prepared to deal with earthquakes which is being followed by the city authorities.
Further, he stated that making all the buildings in Delhi seismic activity proof can only be done in a phased manner.
On the other hand, the counsel appearing for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, MCD stated that the civic body was taking action against unauthorised construction activities in the city.
It was also submitted before the court that the MCD was considering the option of retrofitting in the buildings to make them compliant with safety norms.
It has also been submitted by the counsel appearing for the Delhi Development Authority, DDA that over 300 of its buildings were now compliant with the safety norms. In the present case, the PIL was moved by Bhargava in 2015 and various orders have been passed since then directing the authorities to come up with an action plan to deal with earthquakes.
Therefore, the contempt plea was moved later by Bhargava in the year 2020, wherein alleging non-compliance of the judicial orders by the authorities.
The court in its order directed the authorities to make the city ready to face any major earthquake have not been complied with.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration on May 06, 2024.
