Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha: Members express concern over incidents of building collapse, suggest cheaper loans for repair of old structures

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha members on Friday voiced concern over incidents of buildings collapse and the resultant casualties and suggested cheaper loans to people for the repair of their old buildings. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, senior Congress member Viplove Thakur cited several incidents of building collapse including the recent one in Mumbai which led to several fatalities. [caption id=“attachment_4277349” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] “This matter is becoming serious,” she said and demanded that a law should be framed to address such issues including fire safety. Rakesh Sinha (Nominated) said accountability should be fixed for buildings collapse on builders, engineers, and architects. He said there should be a provision for a loan at lower interest rates, especially for senior citizens, for the repair of old residential structures. Husain Dalwai (Cong) also made suggestions for addressing this problem. Meanwhile, in his Zero Hour mention, Prashanta Nanda (BJD) sought the Centre’s help in the restoration of power infrastructure in Odisha. Cyclone Fani has caused severe damage to the power supply infrastructure, including in Puri and Bhubaneshwar. He said the Centre should provide financial assistance for installation of cyclone resilient power infrastructure as the state would face such natural calamities even in the future. Senior BJP member CP Thakur and Ram Nath Thakur of the JD(U) raised the issue of the flood situation in Bihar. BJP member RK Sinha highlighted the rising cases of sexual assault on children. He said investigations suggest that most of the accused are under the influence of drugs and liquor. Sinha suggested that a nodal ministry should be established with a single point agenda to deal with this grave social issue. Senior Congress MP Kumari Selja raised the issue of violence inflicted upon couples if they go for inter-caste marriage. She referred to some incidents including the one in Uttar Pradesh involving daughter of an MLA who married a Dalit. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (SAD) demanded that the Centre should set up a committee so that all priceless books, documents, and other items “taken away by the Army” from the Golden Temple during Operation Blue Star in 1984 could be returned. Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) opposed the proposed disinvestmnet of Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Ltd.