Kolkata: Three days since the collapse of an illegal building in Garden Reach killed at least 10 people and left several injured, palpable anger gave way to voices of dissent in lanes and bylanes of Azhar Molla Bagan, Haribabu Pally Lane, Fatehpur Village Road and Paharpur Road, with friends and family members of victims blaming the councillor, cops and KMC for the mishap.
“I lost my brother. How long can I stay mum and move around like nothing has happened? How can the councillor not know about an illegal building of this size coming up in his backyard? Why did cops allow it to go this far and why didn’t the KMC step in much earlier? My brother is gone and no amount of compensation can fill his absence,” said the brother of a 27-year-old whose body was pulled out of the debris on Monday morning.
Another group of locals were vocal against other local promoters, the administration and cops for the mushrooming of illegal buildings in the area. Many of them claimed promoters had constructed the illegal buildings by cashing in on their nexus with the administration and cops.
A 20-year-old was spotted accusing the promoter of his building — not the one that collapsed — that it was constructed illegally and was leaning against the next building. “Who will take our responsibility if this building and the rest crumble in the same manner? We know the rogue promoter has a link with the local administration and the police and he has not been seen in the area after this incident,” the youth shouted in front of a mosque, close to the epicentre of the collapse, before being whisked away by a group of men.
Several other locals were found pouring out their grievances in the same manner. About 200m from the collapse site, a man who runs a shop on the ground floor of his residential building was seen shouting when a team of KMC officials was passing by. “Now these people have come to see the consequences after so many lost their lives. Why is the construction of illegal buildings allowed?” he said.