Two people died after a portion of a century-old dilapidated building fell on them on Indian Mirror Street in Central Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon.
Mayor Sovan Chatterjee went to the spot and supervised the rubble cleaning operation. National Disaster Management group (NDMG) and Civil Defence personnel were deployed to clear the debris. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) had declared the building dangerous and put up a board in front of it long ago. But ignoring KMC's warning, the inmates continued to stay in it.
Around 1 pm, a portion of the old two-storeyed building collapsed. The loud noise attracted locals. Panic spread in the adjoining buildings many of which are old and have not been maintained for years. Locals informed the police and began the rescue operation. Four people were trapped under the debris.
Police along with fire brigade personnel went to the spot and were soon joined by their counterparts in NDMG and Civil Defence. Mayor Sovan Chatterjee reached the spot and supervised the rescue operation.
The two injured persons were taken to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Police cordoned off the entire area to facilitate the NDMG and Civil Defence personnel to rescue two people who had been trapped under the rubble. But because of the narrow road, pay loaders could not reach the spot. Finally, a stretch of the boundary wall of the building was pulled down to allow them to clear the debris. Senior officials of KMC's Building department visited the spot too.
The Mayor said there are more than 1,200 dilapidated buildings in the city. He said the new Act that has empowered KMC to take action against the owners of old buildings who will refuse to repair them is in the final stage of implementation. "The new Act will help the KMC to take steps against owners of old buildings who fail to repair them. Despite the buildings being declared as dangerous, people continue to reside in them and KMC is unable to take action on humanitarian grounds," he maintained. It may be mentioned that because of Chatterjee's initiative, the West Bengal Assembly has unanimously passed the Kolkata Municipal Amendment Act, 2017 which empowers KMC to take action against owners of old tenanted buildings that have not been repaired for decades. The KMC will declare them as "condemned" and will ask the owners to repair them. If they fail to do the job, KMC will hand them over to builders who in turn will pull down the existing structure and construct a new building in its place with rehabilitation of tenants and owners.
Senior civic officials said because of lack of repair of the roof, it has become spongy as the water proofing property of the roof has gone long ago due to lack of repair. This increased the load of the roof which finally caved in. The officials said there are many old, dangerous and dilapidated buildings in boroughs 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 that include North and Central Kolkata and parts of South Kolkata.