Father-son duo injured after portion of building collapses

Kolkata: Two persons were seriously injured when a portion of a balcony of an old building on Brabourne Road fell on them early on Monday morning.

The victims were taken to the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital where they were admitted in a critical condition.

Locals said the incident took place around 3.30 am. Attracted by a deafening sound, they rushed to the spot and found that a portion of the second floor balcony of an old house at had collapsed injuring two persons, identified as Ganesh Sukhlal and his son Jay who got trapped under the debris.

They tried to extricate them and on failing to bring them out, informed the police. The Police and Disaster Management team came to the site and extricated the injured persons. They were taken to the Calcutta medical College and Hospital. The rubbles were cleared and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will pull down the affected portion of the building.

The building, that houses some families and offices, has not been repaired for many years. It may be

mentioned that since April, 20 people died when portions of old buildings fell on them in the city.

On September 15, a teenage girl Puja Kumari Gupta died when a portion of the roof of an old building near Tallah Post Office collapsed and fell on her. Again, on September 5, three members of a family died when an old house at Posta in Burrabazar where they used to stay collapsed. In July, two people died when a portion of an old dilapidated building on Lenin Sarani fell on them.

Meanwhile, the KMC has issued over 300 notices to the owners of old buildings urging them to get the health of their houses examined by empanelled structural engineers. If the owners fail to comply with the order, KMC will take over the building and hand it over to a builder who in turn will pull it down after making proper rehabilitation of the owner and the tenants. Senior civic officials said there are more than 2,000 old buildings in the city which have not been repaired for decades. They maintained that the new Act will help the KMC to pull down old buildings to make room for the new ones.