KOLKATA: Before taking a final decision on retaining the older building that has tilted on Christopher Road, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) buildings department will need to start demolishing the new building that came up next to it without approval from the civic body. According to mayor Firhad Hakim, the demolition will begin early next week.
The KMC brass decided to demolish the newly constructed building first as advised by the KMC-empanelled structural engineer Snehasish Sinha, who submitted a report to the KMC authority based on his visit to the site and careful examination of the two buildings in Tangra. According to a civic official, in his report, Sinha suggested razing the newly constructed building and waiting for the effects of such demolition on the structural stability of the Pushpanjali Apartment, the G+5 building that tilted.
Hakim on Monday held meetings with the civic officials on the outcome of the report and the fate of the residents of the tilted building. Later, Hakim said the civic body would need to get tough with the illegal building that led to a tilt in the Pushpanjali Apartment building. “We won’t spare the illegally constructed building that has been responsible for the tilt,” said Hakim.
According to a KMC buildings department official, the residents of Pushpanjali Apartment may be asked to vacate the building during the demolition of the adjacent building that may affect the structural stability of the apartment building.
The residents of Pushpanjali Apartment are keeping their fingers crossed. According to Aparna Nandi, a senior citizen who is on the second floor of the building, the civic authority assured them that they wouldn’t need to shift as the building was structurally safe. Not that she could have done anything else had the KMC advised otherwise.
“We don’t have money left to shift to a rented house,” said Nandi. Of the 12 flats, nine families are yet to vacate the building though power and water supply lines were snapped six days ago. Krishna Sengupta, another resident of the apartment, expressed helplessness. “We have been forced to do without water and electricity. How long will we need to buy water from the market at a premium?” asked Sengupta. The residents of the tilted building have demanded the restoration of power supply to the building.
Source Homevior.in
