The roof of the District Collector’s bungalow partially collapsed on Thursday. No one was injured in the incident.
District Collector Nagalakshmi Selvarajan was away on a visit to the Puttaparthi constituency at the time of the incident.
Repair works were going on as the roof of the functional drawing room of the bungalow had a water seepage problem. When contacted, Ms. Nagalakshmi said that wire concealing works were also going on, but none was present in the room at the time of the incident.
It was built during the British time. A few supporting wooden members of the tiled roof seemed to have given way.
It has to be ascertained if the building is safe for the District Collector to continue to stay there as it is her camp office too.
The Collector would have to get it assessed and repaired by some agency.
“The Roads and Buildings Department, which used to take care of all the government buildings, was asked through a G.O. not to take up the maintenance work since 1999-2000,” said R&B Superintendent Engineer.
Now, every department has to fend for itself and maintain its buildings.
The first District Collector’s office had been established in 1807 by the first Ballari District Collector Sir Thomas Munro. Probably, this camp office was built during that time.
Anantapur town used to be the headquarters for Ballari district until Anantapur district was carved out of Ballari district in 1882.
