Kolkata building collapse: Civic rules flouted, inferior materials used

Builders of the multi-storey building that collapsed in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area on Sunday (March 17) night had allegedly flouted several rules of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for new constructions, leading to the disaster.

Not only did they use low-quality materials to build the structure, but they also used 10mm rods instead of 16mm ones as proposed by the KMC, an official of the civic body told news agency PTI. The building collapse claimed nine lives and injured 17.

Five storeys with nod for two

The builders constructed the five-storey building despite the civic body clearing a two-storey structure on the 1.5-cottah land in ward 134 of the KMC, he added.

“Rules were flouted rampantly. They had constructed 16 flats with a floor area of 500 square feet. They were in a hurry to hand over all the flats and thus were trying to expedite the construction work there,” he said.

“Low-quality materials were being used to save costs. Casting was done with 10mm rods instead of 16mm. They had kept 5,000 bricks loaded on top of the building, which was unable to bear the weight and collapsed,” the official said.

Watch on new flats

According to the new guidelines of the KMC, sub-assistant engineers will go out from now on to inspect new flats. “They will look around different wards for illegal houses. In case of any irregularity, the illegal construction will be demolished at the initial stage,” he added.

The issue of illegal constructions built with substandard materials, allegedly backed by local toughs with political links, is not new to Kolkata. This time, the incident occurred in the constituency of Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, who is also the Mayor of Kolkata.

Though Hakim and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, both of whom visited the site, assured people of stern action against the culprits, locals are not too optimistic. “Our area used to have a number of ponds. Now, we don’t have any. All ponds were filled up and illegal buildings have mushroomed in the locality,” said a local resident.

Rules flouted blatantly

Several people alleged that multi-storied structures by local promoters routinely flout regulations. These buildings are either completely or partially illegal, with unauthorized floors added or leaving no open spaces that are mandatory, claimed a resident.

Amina Khatun (name changed on request), whose daughter narrowly escaped the disaster, echoed the sentiment. “Several buildings here are built on what were once water bodies,” Khatun claimed.

In denial

Mayor Firhad Hakim, however, denied any knowledge of illegal activities. He, however, admitted that there could have been a “lapse on the part of the officials” for failing to monitor whether constructions in the locality were being made in accordance with the law.

KMC officials claimed to have demolished 50 illegal buildings and served notices to 300 more in the area over the past year.

The opposition BJP is demanding a list of all unauthorized constructions. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has vowed to file an RTI seeking details from the KMC.

(With agency inputs)