KMC starts probe to find out if Saraf Bldng had illegal construction

kolkata: Following the allegation by the ward councillor and subsequent intervention of the Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the Building department of the civic body has launched a probe to find out if the Saraf Building, which caught massive fire on Wednesday, indeed had any illegal constructions.

Fire engulfed the upper floor of the building that is located near Raj Bhavan, forcing the Governor to reach the spot to enquire into the matter. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also reached the spot. About 14 fire tenders were engaged while firemen could only douse the flames after five hours approximately.

The Councillor of Ward 45, Santosh Pathak alleged that there were several illegal constructions in that building and the mishap was in all probability a consequence of that. Mayor Firhad Hakim was disappointed as he said that if there were indeed illegal constructions and the Councillor knew about it then why was the KMC kept in the dark? The Mayor ordered an inspection of the matter.

Sources in the Building department said that a probe has been launched with the DG Building ordering to dig out any documents related to the building, including complaints lodged against the building in the past, if any. It is learnt that the sanctioned building plan will be looked into to find out the alleged portions of illegal constructions if any. “For now, KMC will demolish the portions on the fourth floor that has been ravaged by the fire, to neutralise the threat”.

The source said that the fact there was a canteen on the rooftop was not known by the KMC until the incident. “One cannot randomly set up such cooking facilities without seeking permission. It will be checked whether there was fire safety clearance since the area was covered with plastic and tin sheets,” said the source.