On Monday, a five-storey under-construction building collapsed in the congested Garden Reach area of Kolkata, killing 10 people and leaving several injured. A day later, Kolkata Police arrested the building’s promoter Mohammad Wassi, who was booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 288 (negligent construction of building), 427 (mischief) and 34 (common intention). According to sources, the builders did not have the required permission to construct five floors and poor quality material was used in its construction.
On Wednesday, Ghosh had claimed that the councillors could not evade the “moral responsibility” of such a “disaster”. “Councillors cannot shrug off the responsibility if illegal buildings come up in their wards. Sitting in a chair, one cannot disown the responsibility for something that has happened in front of their eyes. There is a moral responsibility that they cannot deny,’ said Ghosh, who is also a councillor.
He also said that whenever a new building came up in a ward, someone would report it to the councillor. “I can then call engineers and inquire whether the structure coming up in a ward is legal or not. A councillor cannot say he had no knowledge of it,” he added.
The Deputy Mayor’s comments were in contrast to Hakim’s who had defended councillors by saying that illegal buildings can come up “without the knowledge and support of a councillor”. “I am a councillor from the Chetla area. It is not possible for me to know what is happening in every corner of Chetla. There are some places where such illegal construction has been reported. That does not mean everything will be in my knowledge,” Hakim had said on Tuesday. Hakim is also the West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister.
When asked whether Shams Iqbal, the TMC councillor of the ward in Garden Reach where the under-construction building collapsed, should take the blame for the incident, Hakim had said, “Why would the councillor be blamed? How is the councillor supposed to know what is happening in the lanes and bylanes? That is the job of the officials. The administration will have to be more strict. Action will be taken.”
Reiterating his stand on Thursday, Hakim had said, “How would I know if any illegal construction is coming up in the lanes and bylanes of the city? Do I have to go through the law every time a construction comes up?”
The BJP targeted the ruling TMC over the war of words between the two councillors. “There is only one industry growing in the state which is illegal construction. The Mayor needs to take responsibility for the recent tragedy and step down from his post,” said
BJP leader Tapas Roy, who recently quit the Mamata Banerjee-led party.