Kolkata Warehouse Collapse: CM Adhikari Orders Structural Audit, Suspends Construction Work

Kolkata Warehouse Collapse: The plans of the building under construction in Taratala industrial area in Kolkata have been called for an audit by West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, as the city's municipal corporation suspended construction work over the building's collapse, killing eight people and injuring 20 in Taratala on Wednesday, till July 31, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in May.

A rescue and search effort has been ongoing at the collapse site. “The operation continued throughout the night and is still ongoing. Rescuers used ground-penetrating radar to locate victims trapped under the debris. Sniffer dogs were also deployed,” said an official.

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Some people are still feared to be trapped under the debris. The Army, NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), police, civil defence and the fire brigade are deployed at the site.

Five accused have been arrested and police have said that the collapse is being investigated. The accused have been booked under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 110 (attempt to culpable homicide) and Section 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

According to the initial reports received from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the plan of the building of the warehouse was wrong, and the now in opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led civic body also might have approved it for pay, Adhikari said.

On 8th June the KMC board was dissolved. Smita Pandey is the newly appointed administrator of KMC, following the resignation of the senior TMC administrator, Firhad Hakim, who lost in the assembly election to the BJP.

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Adhikari directed the KMC to conduct audit on all building plans approved by the previous civic board, especially commercial buildings, and the ones built after the wetlands were filled. “The chief secretary will set up a team comprising officers from the state public works department, civil defence, fire and emergency services, Kolkata Police, and KMC. The team will look into the building plans, site plan, and visit the sites and submit a report,” Adhikari said.

The projects that were cleared can start work from August 1, officials said.

Pandey stated in the notice that the KMC was issuing the notice under the powers granted to it under the KMC Act, 1980, "to ensure the safety of the public" from developers, societies or individual developers in the KMC area.

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