Employees use umbrella while working; leaky roof of Karnataka govt office raises concern

An official from the revenue department has blamed the government for the negligence of repairing the building and told the publication that the 15-year-old building is being ignored while urgent repair work is needed.

Haveri: employees working at the tahsildar’s office in Karnataka's Haveri now have to carry an umbrella even inside the building to protect themselves from the dripping ceiling in the rainy season. The leaking roof has left employees with no option but to work with umbrellas indoors.

The building has been in a state of disrepair for some years now, but no action has been initiated to either repair the building or shift it. The employees have urged the authorities concerned to shift the office to the building that once housed the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP).

One of the employees said the ceiling has been seeping since the start of rainy season.

“We have kept buckets at various places. We are really worried about cracks in the records room, since it can damage files,” one staffer said.

The employee said they had intimated MLA Rudrappa Lamani about the problem. “He had assured us of providing Rs 8 lakh towards repairs. But the funds have not been released,” he rued.

Haveri Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Mahantesh Danammanavar, who inspected the building recently, assured the employees of installing a metal roof over the building.

Due to the current situation, the computer systems, official documents are vulnerable of getting severely damaged due to the water leak.

Abdul Hubbali, a social activist, told TOI that the building roof has been leaking from past five years, yet no action is being taken.

"The tahsildar office building has been functioning here since 2008, but it is in bad shape. Though we have already informed the government, no steps have been taken to address the situation," he said.

He also said that legal action should be taken against those responsible for providing faulty building material.

Many others, including the Tehsildars, have demanded a solution for the problem.

The president of Haveri Urban Development Authority, SFN Gajigoudra insisted on shifting the Tahsildar office to the old court building, which is located in the city.

Whether the office should be shifted to the old court building or not, the deputy commissioner of Haveri, Vijay Mahantesh Danammanavar said that the decision will be taken after feasible study is done.

"We have received a demand to move the Haveri Tahsildar office to the old court building. We will take a decision after a feasibility study," he told TOI.

Meanwhile, Tahsildar G Shankar told the publication that the work to fix the building roof is under way. He said that metal sheets are being put up on the roof to fix the issue of water leakage.

With DH Web Desk inputs