The death toll in the collapse of a five-storeyed building in Garden Reach, Kolkata has touched ten. The collapse has left several people homeless. The building was located at Azhar Molla Lane in Metiabruz which is on the city’s southwestern fringes. Residents of adjacent shanties on which the under construction building collapsed have been asked to vacate their homes.
Other than the shanties at least three other buildings in the vicinity of the building that fell at 11.49 pm on March 17 have been evacuated by the administration. These buildings, erected recently, have been built with barely a couple of feet between the structures. Some of these structures are damaged and are no longer safe. These illegal structures are in a densely populated area of Garden Reach. The alley leading to these houses was not even three to four feet wide. On Paharpur Road, a few metres away from the site of the March 17 accident two high-rises are leaning on each other leaving no space between them.
The Garden Reach police have arrested Md. Sarfaraz alias Pappu on Tuesday. He was the land owner of the plot where building was constructed.
Rubble being cleared
On Tuesday, as personnel of the National Disaster Response Front (NDRF) and locals tried to clear the rubble, a small earthmover was struggling to reach the site of the accident.
Locals and rescue personnel were trying to clear what was left of the shanties so the earth mover could reach the rubble pile. Even 36 hours after the incident, people were perched on their terraces watching the rescue work. People believe that there might be survivors under the rubble.
Later on Monday evening, the body of Sk. Abdullah, an 18 year-old construction worker from Patul in Hooghly was recovered from the rubble. Nasimuddin (24) a construction worker from Murshidabad was also found dead under the rubble. On Tuesday evening, Md Jamil (40) a resident of Metiabruz who was injured in the building collapse succumbed to his injuries at SSKM Hospital. The deceased in the accident include two women — Shama Begam (45) and Hasina Khatoon (60) who were in the shanties when the building collapsed.
About 200 metres away from the site of the accident at Unipon Hospital, Metiabruz, Safina had arrived to fetch her ten-year-old. His hand was injured in the collapse, and he spent 36 hours in the hospital. “There is nothing left of what used to be my house. I have no place to go. I will go to some relative’s place,” Safina said. Her sister-in-law, who also suffered injuries in the collapse remains admittedl.
Illegal construction ‘an evil’
Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim, is facing criticism after blaming the Left Front for the illegal construction mushrooming across the metropolis. On Tuesday the Mayor said illegal construction has become a social evil. “I still cannot understand why there are so many illegal structures. This has become a social evil,” the Mayor said.
Questions are also being raised about the Mayor’s defence of the councillor for ward 134, Shams Iqbal. “It is not the councillor’s job. He is a political person. It is the building department’s job,” the Mayor had said defending the councillor. Recently the councillor of ward 134 made heads turn when he drove to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in an Aston Martin.
The Kolkata Police, however, has arrested the promoter of the building Mohammad Wasim. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also targeted the Mayor Firhad Hakim and asked, “Will the Mayor conduct an audit to find out how many illegal buildings have been built in Ward No 134? “.
“Or will he go easy on the Audi driving Councillor? Most probably no corrective measures will be taken, as both the Mayor and the Councillor are waiting for the storm to pass and praying that the Media finds another story to focus on, so that they are spared the media glare,” the BJP leader said on social media.
