KMC to increase executive engineers in Building dept

Kolkata: To add teeth to the crackdown against illegal constructions in the city, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) would be increasing its numbers of executive engineers in the Building department after the state government is learnt to have granted approval for the same.

It was learnt from sources that Nabanna has granted approval to the KMC for increasing its numbers of executive engineers in the building department. The civic body plans to induct six more executive engineers. Presently, the Building department has 10 such engineers but now that number is expected to grow to 16. KMC has a total of 16 boroughs in the city. Such an induction will ensure all the boroughs are covered.

Further, sources said that so far due to the shortage certain borough executive engineers were having to fill up for two boroughs. Each borough covers nine wards roughly. Hence two boroughs will entail 18 wards which is a large area for one executive engineer to supervise. It was learnt that such posts of executive engineers will be filled up through promotion of existing engineers of the KMC.

Mayor Firhad Hakim had said that executive engineers must file an FIR with the police once it comes to their notice that an illegal construction is afoot. In case no action is taken, then the director general of the building department needs to be informed by the engineer concerned so the matter can be further taken up with the municipal commissioner and thereafter with the commissioner of Kolkata Police.

Last year, the collapse of an illegally under construction building in Garden Reach’s Azhar Mollah Bagan area killed around 12 persons who were mostly slum dwellers living in and around the said construction. Recently, the Calcutta High Court directed the KMC to demolish around eight illegal constructions at Enemy Properties at Keshab Chandra Sen Street. Besides evicting the residents of such unauthorised constructions, the court also directed the civic body to disconnect water connection while directing the CESC to stop power supply to these buildings.