The northern Italian city of Bologna is on high alert as the Garisenda Tower, also known as the Leaning Tower, is on the verge of collapse. The 1,000-year-old tallest tower in Bologna is reportedly at risk of collapsing because of excessive leaning.

Reports suggest that officials had made an attempt to remove the top of the 150ft-tall tower in the 14th Century in order to stabilise the structure. Since then, the tower has been leaning at an angle of four degrees. It may be noted that the iconic Tower of Pisa leans at five degrees.

Although the Italian engineers have done extensive work over the years to maintain the integrity of the tower, Garisenda is leaning excessively. The leaning has prompted the Bologna officials to prepare a civil protection plan as they have realised that the tower is at risk of a “sudden and unexpected collapse“.

Local officials have also decided to put up a metal cordon around the tower in order to contain the debris, apart from blocking access to the off-limits areas. The move will reduce the vulnerability of surrounding buildings in case of a collapse. The protective cordon will further reduce the possibility of the locals getting injured in case of an accident.

Meanwhile, the City Council has issued a statement, saying that a Scientific Committee has been monitoring the site since 2019. The committee has also installed sensors to measure the movements of the ancient tower. Meanwhile, the readings of the sensors triggered alarm bells in October 2023, indicating that it observed an “unexpected and accelerated trend” of “crushing compression” of the base tower. According to the Scientific Committee, the cracks in the stones used in the base could easily expand to the bricks above.

The readings of the sensors have also prompted civic officials to shut down the area around the tower and to close all roads leading to the Garisenda Tower.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das