Kolkata civic body marks Entally factory building unsafe after collapse
Times of India | 19 November 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Monday declared the abandoned factory building on Convent Road in Entally — portions of which collapsed on Sunday night claiming lives of two brothers — as hazardous and cordoned off the area.
One of the brothers was employed as a security guard by a person, who had acquired the land from the closed factory's owner. Though mayor Firhad Hakim ordered demolition of the dilapidated building on Sunday night, a KMC buildings department official said the work might commence only after the property was handed over to them by police following collection of evidence.
"We have kept our demolition team ready for dismantling hazardous parts of the building," said the civic official. The mayor said the factory was declared abandoned 40 years ago, but the KMC buildings department inspectors didn't monitor it. "We were unaware about the handover of the land. We have learnt that someone has purchased the plot, including the building, and obtained clearance from the state industries department. Now that we have intervened, we may need to conduct a structural assessment to decide whether to demolish it completely or raze only a part of it,"said a KMC official.