After a building in the Garden Reach area suddenly leaned towards another building, posing a threat to the safety of the residents, a team from Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) building department is demolishing one of these buildings to negate immediate risks.
The incident took place in ward 134 of the KMC. Residents in the area alleged that both these buildings are illegal constructions with no sanction for construction obtained from the KMC. In one of the buildings, a fifth floor was allegedly constructed illegally as learnt from sources in the area.
A team of engineers from the building department visited the site. A demolition team has been engaged to bring down one of the constructions. The incident spread panic in the area, especially among the residents of these two buildings. Some of them rushed out onto the road, as claimed by witnesses at the spot.
KMC has been receiving several complaints from citizens concerning illegal construction in the city. Mayor Firhad Hakim recently asked the director general of the building department to exercise his powers to issue show cause notice to borough executives and blacklist the licenced building surveyors (LBS) in such cases.
Hakim said that the borough executives are supposed to keep an eye on these matters. “They are supposed to remain vigilant. The officials of KMC headquarters can’t visit every ward under the civic body. Such illegal acts need to be brought to the notice of the DG building who needs to exercise his powers to ensure the officials below him do not take things for granted. Rules need to be followed,” he ordered.