In the Kolkata neighborhood of Garden Reach, a portion of a five-story under-construction building collapsed on top of a nearby slum on Monday at 12:10 in the morning, according to the police. Ten slum residents who were hurt were pulled out and taken to the hospital. On condition of anonymity, a member of the state disaster management team at the scene stated, “Rescue operations are underway.” Although there was no official confirmation until 6.40 am, locals reported that 15 people had been injured and that two of the injured slum dwellers had died.
“Darkness and lack of space required to deploy cranes is posing a problem,” a fire services official said on condition of anonymity. Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal rushed to the spot around 1.40 am but did not talk to the media.
Local residents alleged before the media that the damaged building was being illegally constructed because KMC rules do not allow the construction of five-storey structures on narrow lanes. The lane leading to the construction site is no more than three feet wide, they alleged.
The slum dwellers said the construction started around two years ago. The residents, most of whom belong to the Muslim community, pointed at several similar buildings in the area.
“A 5-storey building (illegally constructed) has collapsed at Hazari Mollah Bagan; Garden Reach; Metiabruz, KMC Ward No. 134. This particular area falls under the so called ‘citadel’ of Hon’ble Mayor of Kolkata and Municipal Affairs Minister. I urge @chief_west, Secretary @HomeBengal, @CPKolkata to immediately involve West Bengal State Disaster Management Team for immediate rescue & relief,” leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) around 1.20 am.
Until 2:30 am, no government representative was available for comment.
Garden Reach was the name of the constituency until the Left Front government was overthrown by the TMC in the 2011 assembly elections.
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