At least 9 dead & about 17 injured after building collapses in Garden Reach
Kolkata: At least nine people, including two women, were killed and about 17 others were injured after an under-construction five-storey building collapsed in the Garden Reach area of Kolkata Sunday late night. The promoter of the building, Md Wasim, was arrested on Monday. The Mayor said stringent action would be taken as per law.
The toll could go up since some people were spotted trapped under the debris at the time of filing this report. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the site of the tragedy on Monday morning to oversee the rescue operations. The Mayor said that the rescue operations were carried out on war footing at the site where the building was being constructed illegally. According to sources, around 11:55 pm on Sunday, the incident happened as a part of the building on Azhar Mollah Bagan collapsed and at least 15 people got trapped under the debris. Within a few moments, Disaster Management Group (DMG) personnel along with Fire Brigade personnel arrived and started the rescue operation. Mayor Firhad Hakim and state Fire minister Sujit Bose also rushed to the spot.
A few hours later, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team joined the rescue operation. After a night long rescue operation two bodies were recovered till Monday morning. Six more bodies were recovered from under the debris till the last reports came in. About 4-5 people were still trapped under the debris.
Meanwhile, the police on Monday arrested the promoter of the building Md. Wasim. Sources said that the police registered a case against the promoter on charges of murder, attempt to murder among others.
Local people alleged that several multi storeyed buildings have been constructed by filling up water bodies. It was also alleged that the construction of the collapsed building took place without any sanction of plan from the civic body. Sources reportedly claimed that the flats of the said building were already sold in advance.
Mayor Firhad Hakim announced a compensation of Rs 5 Lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured.
“I have spoken to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and we will give Rs five lakh to the next of kin of each deceased person and Rs one lakh to each injured person,” Hakim said.
State Fire and Emergency minister Sujit Bose said rescue operation was underway on a war footing. Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal also visited the spot. When asked as to what the councillor was doing, Mayor Hakim said: “It is not the job of the local councillor to check illegal buildings. It is the duty of the administration and the civic body officials to inspect whether constructions are taking place as per sanctioned plans or not.”
