KMC calls Garden Reach teams to help in Baghajatin demolition
Times of India | 16 January 2025
Kolkata: Around 100 demolition workers from three private agencies, including those who had been involved in pulling down an illegal five-storey building that had collapsed in Garden Reach, were sent to Baghajatin on Wednesday morning to raze the tilted building there.
Around 30 of the labourers have been working in shifts and they will be relived by those kept on reserve.
The workers are exercising extreme caution in demolishing parts of the tilted building, which is situated in a densely populated area, surrounded by other houses and apartments. "We started work on Tuesday evening amid chaos. We understand it is a challenging task, considering the area is thickly populated and the lanes are narrower than at other places. We need to have patience and any haste in demolition can lead to further trouble," said a KMC buildings department official. He pointed out that based on the pace of the work, it would take a fortnight to complete the demolition.
Though the KMC asked the owners of the demolition agencies to utilise machines depending on the situation to ensure the work was carried out smoothly, the experienced workers said they needed to adopt a wait-and-watch policy before trying to use machines to pull down the tilted structures. "Now our teams are working manually, maintaining a certain pace. If we want to use heavy machines, it may lead to a freak accident," said a worker.
According to a civic official, the agencies have been asked to engage as many workers as possible for the razing. "Three agencies are ready with around 100 workers but not all are working now. If needed, those kept on standby, will be deployed. But considering the narrow lane, on which the collapsed building is standing on balance, we can't take chances," said a KMC buildings department official.
Mayor Firhad Hakim plans to submit a detailed probe report, based on which action will be taken. A preliminary probe by the KMC buildings department suggests the collapse could have been avoided had the promoter involved a structural engineer and assigned him to oversee the entire process of lifting the building. The preliminary probe also suggested that the building started tilting due to a foundation failure. "We have reasons to believe that the building, built on a filled-up pond, was structurally weak as the foundation of the structure was not supportive," said a KMC official.