An un-authorized, under-construction multi-storied building collapsed on shanties next to it in Kolkata late last night, killing eight people in a minority-dominated part of the city. The toll may go up further as rescuers toil to clear the debris under which more people are feared trapped.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, recuperating at home after an accident last week, visited the spot in the Garden Reach area with a bandaged head and a black hijab-like cloth wrapped around her face to announce a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each death.
While the Trinamool Congress tried to deflect blame to its predecessor the CPM for illegal construction in the city, the BJP slammed the ruling party for having different yardsticks keeping in mind its vote bank politics. It said that the Chief Minister had no time to visit Sandeshkhali where her partymen grabbed land and sexually exploited women, but rushed to Garden Reach flouting doctor’s orders.
Mamata Banerjee reached the spot to take stock of rescue efforts. She also met the injured at a nearby health facility. Speaking to journalists, she raised concerns about whether permission was taken for such construction. She added that those constructing high-rises should be mindful of nearby shanties and huts. “I asked the Mayor whether permission was taken for the building. He said no,” Banerjee said.
“We shall provide compensation for the next of kin of the deceased and for the injured persons. We stand by the distressed families and rescue operations shall continue,” the Chief Minister posted on social media. The State Government announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh for the deceased and ₹1 lakh to the injured.
Local residents alleged that the building was constructed illegally after filling up a waterbody. They said that construction of the building had been going on for the past six months under the nose of the administration. They also raised questions as to how a five-storeyed building could be constructed in an area where the approach road was only three feet wide.
Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, State’s Urban Development Minister and local MLA Firhad Hakim said that it was difficult for him to take stock of illegal constructions in every lane.
He said the trend of illegal construction started during the Left Front regime and blamed Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials for not being vigilant.
Admitting that illegal constructions in the area were rampant, Hakim said: “It has been a trend here and also in some other areas since the Left Front era.” He also admitted that there could have been a “lapse on the part of the officials” for failing to monitor whether constructions in the locality were being made in accordance with law.
The CPIM, the biggest constituent of the Left Front, hit back at the allegation. Senior leader Sujan Chakraborty said: “It is laughable that Kolkata’s Mayor, who is also the local MLA, blames the Left Front for the illegal building being built in his own constituency. He seems to have forgotten that the Trinamool Congress has been in power at the city’s civic body for the past 15 years.”4
The Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari called the collapse “a TMC-made disaster”.
“Firstly, since 2010, after the TMC Party gained control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), edging out the Left Front, more than 5,000 water bodies have been illegally filled up and converted within the KMC area itself. That there is clear collusion between local councillors, promoters and local police, under the aegis of top TMC leaders, can be easily witnessed when such water bodies are filled up without facing any legal and administrative hassles,” Adhikari said. The BJP leader alleged that more than 800 such illegal constructions existed in the Garden Reach area itself.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that instead of indulging in politics, the Opposition should stand by the people in distress.
“Although no one lived in the under-construction building, it collapsed on the adjacent shanties. We fear that many individuals might still be trapped under the rubble,” said a local resident.
Indranil Khan, the State BJP Yuva Morcha president, tweeted: “The catastrophic collapse of an unauthorised illegal building at Azhan Molla Bagan in KMC Ward No 134, Garden Reach area, crushing and trapping several people including children underneath, is a fatal consequence of the corrupt civic system in Kolkata running in tandem with TMC-backed syndicate mafia.”