An unauthorized five-storey building that was under construction collapsed on the adjoining slum in Hazari Mollah Bagan in the Garden Reach area in Kolkata on 18th March in the night at around 12:10 am. As a result, at least five people died and 15 people were injured by getting trapped under the debris from the collapsed building.
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According to the local people, the pieces of concrete started falling from the building at first, and then the entire structure was caved in. They also said that parts of it fell on the heavily congested neighboring slum areas where people were sleeping.
Official Statements
KPC Vineet Goyal (Kolkata Police Commissioner) and senior officers, along with Fire and Emergency Service officials and Disaster Management teams reached the spot as soon as possible. A senior police officer said in a statement that they had rescued the people who were stuck under the concrete remains and hospitalized them. He said that the rescue operations are still going on. The rescuers said that gas cutters were used to pass through the rubble and look for those trapped inside. Ambulance service was also kept in hand. According to National Disaster Response Force, 20 people have been rescued so far.
Testimonies of local people
The local people said that the construction work of the building was going on for six months from now. They added that the building was being constructed illegally as it did not have proper permission from the Kolkata Municipality Corporation which does not permit the construction of five-storey building in a narrow lane. The slum dwellers noted that the lane where the construction work was going on is not more than three feet wide.
Declaration of Compensation
The concerned area in Garden Reach, Metiabruz falls under the KMC’s civic ward no. 134, a part of the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency. Mayor Firhad Hakim who is the MLA of the place has announced Rs. 5 lakh for the relatives of those who died and RS. 1 lakh for the injured people as a compensation.
CM Mamata Banerjee on the incident
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the site of the accident and promised to help the families of the victims. She wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the construction was illegal and she ordered the administration to take strict action on those who were involved in this activity.
Opposition’s remark
The president of Yuva Morcha in West Bengal, Indranil Khan blamed the ruling party saying that the incident is an outcome of “the corrupt civic system in Kolkata” running hand-in-hand with the “TMC-backed syndicate mafia”. He also urged the administration to take immediate measures for the rescue of the people.
BJP MLA and current leader of the opposition in West Bengal also expressed his concern regarding the incident demanding urgent steps to be taken by the state government for rescuing the people who are trapped under the rubble.
MP Abhishek Banerjee’s response to criticism
The national General Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee reacted to the incident by putting emphasis on the rescue operations and telling the oppositions not to politicize the matter.
