Two more buildings tilt towards each other, KMC orders evacuation and partial demolition
Times of India | 23 January 2025
12 Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has issued an express order — under section 411/4 — for immediate demolition of parts of a multi-storied building on Christopher Road that has tilted towards a newly constructed adjacent building, which has also started tilting. According to a KMC source, the director-general (building) issues such an order in extreme cases to ensure public safety. The KMC buildings department has decided to evacuate the first building on Thursday morning before the demolition work starts.
In a bid to ensure that the residents don't resist the civic demolition drive, the KMC asked the CESC officials to ensure that electricity to the building is cut off, compelling them to move out of the dangerous building. A KMC buildings department official conceded that the tilted building and the building on which it leans were constructed illegally. "We are searching for the promoter who flouted KMC building rules, leading to such a disaster for the residents. We will take appropriate steps against the promoter and the licenced building surveyor," a KMC official said.
The decision on the extent of demolition will be taken after a structural engineer visits the site and conducts a survey of the structural stability of the tilted building, a civic official said. "There is no denying the fact that we need to take some load off the building in question to make it structurally safe. How much load needs to be taken off will depend on the decision of the structural engineer who will visit the site on Thursday. But, first of all, we need to ensure that demolition begins after the residents of the building are evacuated to a safer place," said a KMC buildings department official.
The KMC officials will install a safety net around the tilted building after the evacuation to ensure that residents of other buildings or passersby don't get hurt until the demolition process is completed. According to a civic official, the structural engineer will especially probe into the reasons for the tilt. "The tilt may have happened due to a faulty foundation. After a certificate from the structural engineer, we will be able to determine the real cause," said a buildings department official.
Mayor Firhad Hakim on Wednesday said the Licenced Building Surveyor (LBS) who drafted the plan for the building would be called and asked to explain what went wrong in ensuring a safe foundation for the building that tilted. "We have reasons to believe that the LBS has a role in ensuring the safety of the building which tilted. Questioning the LBS will lead us to a point where the reasons for the construction failure will be made clear," Hakim said.
The building adjacent to the tilted one will not be spared either. "We are also investigating the role of the promoter who constructed a multi-storied building just beside the tilted building without keeping the mandatory open space," said a KMC official.
Local councillor Sandipan Saha said he will appeal to prospective flat buyers in the Tangra area not to get trapped by a section of unscrupulous promoters who engage in illegal construction and build houses that are not often structurally safe. "It is the duty of the KMC officials to locate buildings that are being constructed without a civic sanction. We will extend our cooperation to the civic officials," Saha said.