An online petition against demolishing two buildings that survived the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 has been signed by around 15,000 locals.
Earlier this month, a committee of the Hiroshima Prefecture announced that two of the three buildings of the former Hiroshima Army Clothing Depot will be demolished by 2022. The buildings, which were constructed in 1913 and used to make Japanese military uniforms, are currently not in use.
According to petitioners, the two buildings, which are located about 2 miles from ground zero, should remain intact as a reminder of the dangers associated with nuclear weapons. Along with the Japanese city of Nagasaki, Hiroshima is the only city on which nuclear weapons have ever been used, being targeted because of its importance as a manufacturing center.
However, government officials have warned that the buildings would not be able to survive one of the strong earthquakes that are common in the region, according to an inspection conducted two years ago.
“There was no choice for us not to take any measures, as a collapse could hurt residents in the neighbourhood,” an unidentified official is quoted as saying by AFP.
Strengthening all three buildings would cost an estimated $77 million. Officials have thus proposed to strengthen one of the buildings and demolish the other two. Such an arrangement would only cost between $13 million and $28 million. However, despite the government's proposition, locals still…
