Think twice if you happen to take the elevators at the District Collectorate, for you could be risking your life by stepping into what certainly are one of the oldest lifts in the district.

The lifts in A1 block of the Collectorate are in action since the District Collectorate’s inauguration on January 1, 1977.

While the elevators are well past their prime and are better abandoned, authorities are reluctant to replace them. Reason: paucity of funds. Significantly, more than 2,000 people use these lifts every day.

Meanwhile, two lifts installed in the new block are not operating, as the block is still not fully electrified.

“It’s not safe to use these old lifts,” an official at the Collectorate said. “The average life span of a lift is 15 years but these are operating for 35 years.

The lifts often get stuck midway, and do not work properly.”While platform of the lifts stand damaged, their gates do not lock smoothly.

Their ancient status apart, the lifts also eat up a lot of power since they are run on 15-horsepower motors, while modern variants need 5hp to operate.

Authorities said they have already sent an estimate of Rs 1 crore for asset maintenance at the Collectorate. According to them, around Rs 20 lakh is required to replace the elevators with new ones.

Assistant Engineer, electrical wing of Public Works Department, admitted: “We can’t depend on these old lifts for long. We will replace them if the government allocates funds in the forthcoming budget.”