Kolkata: A portion of a house collapsed at Tiljala Road on Thursday evening injuring three persons who had to be shifted to CNMC Hospital.
As learnt from police reports, a portion of a staircase between the second and third floors collapsed in a four-storied residential building collapsed at about 4:30 pm.
The incident left three persons injured — Alia Khatun(18), Shamima Khatun (17) and Zahid Ali (10). All three were residents of the building at 43, Tiljala Road, Kusthia. The property concerned is located in Ward 65 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Borough VII. KMC officials are of the opinion that despite repeatedly asking owners to get their properties fixed, most have been reluctant citing several excuses mostly relating to financial difficulty arising out of alleged non-payment of rents by tenants.
Despite the laws being amended offering owners and tenants the opportunity to get dilapidated properties rebuilt, most are not willing to shift out temporarily, fearing they won’t be allowed back by the owners once the new structure comes up, said an official.
Just four days back, a portion of an old building that was already declared ‘dangerous’ by KMC, caved in at the Padmapukur area in Bhowanipore in the wee hours on Saturday. The sole tenant in the unaffected portion of the building was shifted for safety purposes. There was no tenant occupying the affected portion of the 220-year-old building on 26 A Padmapukur Road. Officials from the KMC Building department demolished the rest of the affected portion.