Ludhiana, Dec. 4 -- Nearly three months after the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) declared five of its buildings "unsafe" and in urgent need of repairs, the utility's civil wing has failed to initiate substantial work, officials familiar with the matter said. They attributed the prolonged delay to an acute shortage of manpower.

According to officials, the long-neglected structures - many of them several decades old - now show alarming signs of deterioration, including widening cracks, weakened beams and significant structural stress. This, they said, poses a serious safety risk to employees and visitors.

The urgency was first raised in an August 5 letter sent by the corporation to its Patiala head office, warning that imm...