Building Collapse
Kolkata: Garden Reach illegal multi-storey building collapse toll rises to 10, 1 more missing
Kolkata/UNI: With the recovery of one more body, the toll in the five-storey under-construction illegal building collapse at Garden Reach in the city on Sunday night, left ten people dead, even though one more person is missing at the mishap site, official sources said on Wednesday.
The resumption of the rescue operation was also hampered on Wednesday by the untimely rain, even as the NDRF was gearing up for searching in the adjacent slum in Hazari Mollah Bagan of Paharpur Road, police said.
A survivor buried under the rubble was seen communicating with his cell phone with one of his relatives seeking evacuation last night, sources said.
Among the dead, two of them were women, who were sisters and identified as Shamim Begum (44) and Hasina Khatun (55).
One of their male relatives was also buried alive, and his body was extracted on Sunday night.
Two cousins and a mason were casualties who were sleeping on the 2nd floor of a multi-storey building under construction.
The building was being built for about a year after covering a water body there, local people alleged.
Promoter Md Wasim and his business partner Md Sarfraj were arrested. Sarfraj is also the landowner on the plot, where a 5-storey building was being built past one on a 4-foot lane.
Sources said six more multi-storey buildings were identified as illegal structures in the same area. Two of those have been tilted and are very close to each other.
In a shocking admission, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the spot on Monday morning, called the construction "illegal" and urged her administration to take action against it.
"I came to know from the Mayor that the building had no legal permission. A section of promoters make certain buildings without the permission.
"I would request the administration to take official action if anyone has worked illegally," the Chief Minister said on spot.
Mayor Firhad Hakim said the government, as he was told by the Chief Minister, will give Rs. 5 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs. 1 lakh to the injured.
Slamming the ruling dispensation, Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Suvendu Adhikari, called the accident a "TMC-made disaster".
In a long X post, Adhikari has accused the local councillors, promoters and police of having a collusion with the backing of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is headed by Mamata Banerjee.
TMC-made Disaster
— Suvendu Adhikari (Modi Ka Parivar) (@SuvenduWB) March 18, 2024
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When a 5-storey building collapses like a Pack Of Cards in the Garden Reach Area, some pertinent questions need to be answered.
First of all, the focus should remain on rescuing people who might still be trapped under the debris. If the… pic.twitter.com/YLAhWNUhZY
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