BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari files RTI over Kolkata building collapse incident

The five-storey building in Garden Reach collapsed early on Monday. (document)

Kolkata:

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday filed an application under the Right to Information Act (RTI) in connection with the collapse of an illegally under-construction building on the western fringes of Kolkata that killed at least nine people and left many more People get hurt.

The five-storey building in Garden Reach collapsed early on Monday.

Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, said: “After the Garden Ridge tragedy, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s lack of preparedness has been completely exposed.” He posted on X: “As the opposition party responsible Responsible leader, I have initiated the data compilation process on the process of approving building plans, rejecting building plans, issuing completion certificates, identifying and demolishing illegal structures, etc.”

He also said the data would certainly help “assess the risks posed by illegal buildings built without valid permission”.

The RTI petition was filed with the state public information officer seeking details such as the number of applications submitted for access to the sanction program between January 1, 2010 and March 18, 2024, and how many of them were sanctioned and rejected.

The incident occurred after the five-storey building, said to be built by filling in a water body, collapsed on nearby sheds in the densely populated Azhar Mollah Bagan area of ​​Garden Reach. , Suvendu Adhikari claimed that there are at least 800 such illegal buildings in the area.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the collapse site on Monday and assured locals of strict action against promoters of illegal real estate. She also announced a compensation of 500,000 rupees to each of the families of the deceased and 100,000 rupees to each of the injured.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)