Developer of building in Tangra that tilted towards its adjoining building arrested
Telegraph | 5 February 2025
The developer of a building on Christopher Road in Tangra that tilted towards its adjoining building was arrested on Tuesday morning.
Rajat Lee, 68, a resident of Christopher Road, has been charged with construction of a building that is dangerous to life and property.
“Rajat Lee has been booked under section 401A of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act of 1980. The section deals with the construction of buildings that are dangerous to people or property. It also covers the construction of additional floors that violate the Act,” said an officer.
Based on a tip, a team conducted a raid in Tiljala and arrested Lee around 5.35am on Tuesday, the police said.
Lee was produced in the court of the senior municipal magistrate later in the day.
Last month, two buildings on Christopher Road were found tilting towards each other. One of them, a five-storeyed structure with light green exterior paint, has families living in it for over a year.
The other, a six-storeyed white building — which the Kolkata Municipal Corporation tried to demolish but failed on its first attempt after resistance from residents of the area — is being constructed for close to a year but has no occupants. The demolition of the building started on January 31.
Lee is the developer of the white building.
There are at least 30 such tilted buildings in the Calcutta municipal area, the city’s mayor recently said.
Incidents of buildings either tilting or collapsing have been reported from across the city in the recent past.
Last year, an under-construction building collapsed in Garden Reach killing several people under the debris.
Last month, a four-storeyed tilting building that was being “lifted” with the help of a hydraulic jack, crashed in Naktala.