The Building department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Saturday pulled down the dangerous portion of an old dilapidated building on Beadon Row in North Kolkata.
Mohan Kumar Gupta, Trinamool Congress Councillor of Ward 17 was present when the demolition work was going on. Local people had approached Gupta and sought his intervention.
Senior civic officials said a notice was served to the owner of the building urging him to do the necessary repairs. Later, the building was declared as dangerous and dilapidated. The officials said some portions of the old structure could collapse anytime causing a major accident.
The Building department has a list of over 2,200 old and dilapidated building in the city. It may be mentioned that the West Bengal Assembly had unanimously passed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Amendment Bill, 2017 where if owners refuse to repair buildings, civic authorities might take it over and get it developed. The Bill is awaiting for the clearance of the Governor to turn into an Act. It also allows owners to pull down an old structure to make room for a new one with space for the tenant. In such a situation, the KMC will give more FAR.
While commenting on the Bill, mayor Sovan Chatterjee had said in the Assembly that the Bill would save old and dangerousbuildings which pose as serious threats. Most of the old and dangerous buildings are situated in North Kolkata and in some parts of South Kolkata. Many of these houses are situated on river Hooghly and the civic authorities have failed to trace their owners.