Heavy rains in recent days have caused more serious erosion around the problematic Tower 16 (T16) and nearby Tower 15 (T15) of Taipei’s Maokong Gondola, threatening the safety of residents living nearby, a city councilor said on Tuesday.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) showed a series of pictures taken days ago around the gondola’s T15 support pillar to prove that the city government had failed to put concrete around the steel bars of the support pillar, causing them to rust.

T15 and almost all the other towers were “built on unstable ground” where the topsoil was fragile, and they could be damaged like T16 in the event of heavy rains or a typhoon, she added.

“Our new findings prove that not only is T16 a problem, but the whole structure of the gondola system is problematic. I urge the city government to take action and reexamine all 25 towers,” Hsu told a press conference at the Taipei City Council.

Operations of the gondola system, a construction project under then Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), were suspended on October1 after a typhoon caused mudslides and created a 2.5-meter hole next to T16.

In January, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that T16 would be relocated and reported 11 city government officials and two contracting companies to the Control Yuan and the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office for investigation into possible dereliction of duty.

Chen Teh-yao (陳德耀), an architect who has been living in the residential community near the area for more than 30 years, said that the city government had only focused on the problem with T16, while ignoring damage to other towers.

“There are a lot of residential communities in the area between T15 and T16 towers, and we are worried that another mudslide could occur during the typhoon season,” he said.

Huang Hsi-hsun (黃錫薰), director of Taipei City’s New Construction Office, said the office had sent staff to check the rusty steel bars in the pillar, adding that rust would have a limited effect on the structure.

Hsu demanded that the office re-examine all of the system’s 25 support towers and present a report to the council before the onset of the typhoon season in June.