Yesterday, while walking in downtown Moscow, we were in a street and noticed a beutiful building where huge chunks of concreat had fallen from the building facade onto two parked cars that were parked below it. See photo. This is an all to often and sad problem here and in some other capitals in Europe. No one wants to take responsibility for the upkeep and repair of old buildings. We were told by a guy that was taking photos of the damage, that the buildings in the street are 200 years old. You can see this kind of decay in old cities like Budapest. Buildings that are at least 100 years old, are just crumbling away before our very eyes. Sometimes people are killed by falling cement and bricks from buildings. History in the city is dying and should be protected, along with people who walk under or by such buildings. Why don't city authorities have a dedicated fund for such issues and employ a small team of inspectors to routinely monitor all parts and buildings in the city. That is not such a crazy idea and would add to the attractiveness of the city and attract more tourists. I have said my bit on this issue and will say no more. Please be careful dear reader.
We have the same problem in Kiev. On some old buildings, there are horizontal metal nets fixed above the first floor to catch the falling debris. I try not to walk too close to any building, old or new, anyway - someone may push off a flowerpot accidentally or throw something down on purpose (like our neighbor upstairs does). And in winter, there's the icicle problem.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it was me responding to your post on Boredom - I just forgot to sign it.
Cool. I know what you mean. I would think ice falling from the roof could hurt if not kill. BTW They don't seem to have many nets on old buildings here but I have seen some, they just net it up and leave it to rot rather than fix it.
ReplyDeletethey probably do have a fund but i expect the politians have already spent it on new cars and hookers. The extent of corruption is so bad that everything and everyone suffers as a result.
ReplyDeleteThieving, greedy Russian polticians steel and steel state money and are almost imune from punishment, unless they p"ss off the wrong person, that is...
True words my friend.
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