On April 5, Grandma Jia, a resident of the family compound of the Lanzhou Agricultural Science Institute, reported to the media that since she moved in over a decade ago, the compound's foundation has been continuously sinking, causing the wall on one side of the balcony to tilt and crack. She has repeatedly sought help from the relevant departments of the unit, but the problem remains unresolved to this day.
On the morning of the 5th, the reporter arrived at the Agricultural Science Institute family compound at No. 464 Yaning Road. In the courtyard below the building where Grandma Jia lives, many areas have formed pits due to foundation subsidence. The wall of the elderly woman's first-floor balcony has tilted southward due to the sinking foundation, with cracks as wide as four to five cun (roughly 13–17 cm); there are traces of cement repairs, and the misalignment between the glass enclosure and the second-floor balcony floor has reached over ten centimeters. The building has three units and eight first-floor households, and all eight households have experienced varying degrees of wall tilting and balcony cracks without exception.
Grandma Jia's home is the most severely damaged, and the water leakage on rainy days especially causes the elderly woman great distress. She told the reporter that since they moved in, the building's foundation subsidence has become increasingly obvious, and the floor tiles have cracked with clearly visible gaps. She also said that the building has a housing maintenance fund, and the cost of repairing the homes should be borne by the unit.
Subsequently, the reporter contacted Director Cao of the Lanzhou Agricultural Science and Technology Research and Extension Center. He told the reporter that the foundation may have aged and sunk due to water seepage and arbitrary parking. As for the repair costs, because the homes have already been sold to the individual owners, all repair costs should be borne by the owners. In addition, applying for the housing maintenance fund requires the consent of all owners in the family compound, but currently only eight owners have agreed, so the housing maintenance fund cannot be applied for.