Every year around the Jagannath Rath yatra, the AMC undertakes its annual ritual of issuing notices to residents and occupants of these houses, asking them to be careful and not crowd buildings marked as dangerous.

Things are then forgotten until some or other building collapses in the city. The buildings, before they are termed dangerous, need to be examined by a structural engineer but this doesn’t happen.

“Our department's people visit these places and declare them dangerous by having a cursory look. They are in such a dilapidated condition that even a layman can conclude these need to be pulled down,” said Deputy Municipal Commissioner T G Jhalavdia, who has charge of estate department, under which such houses come.

Jhalavadia said people are extremely reluctant to have their houses assessed by structural engineers, let alone get them repaired afterwards. The reason why houses are not assessed is because the AMC and residents can’t decide who should bear the cost of assessment.

“It is a very serious matter that normal looking houses fall suddenly. It has be to be addressed accordingly,” said Jhalvadia, who nonetheless felt helpless about the situation.

According to him, there are around one lakh properties that need to be assessed by structural engineers. "This is because there are a large number of houses that seem quite okay from their outer appearance but could collapse sooner than those looking apparently vulnerable," he said.