BJP leader moves Calcutta HC seeking CBI probe into building collapse in Kolkata

Kolkata, March 19 (IANS) Rakesh Singh, a local BJP leader from Garden Reach in Kolkata, filed a PIL before the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday over the collapse of a five-storey building in the area around midnight on Sunday that killed nine persons besides leaving several others injured. 

In the PIL filed before the division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, two separate appeals have been made. 

The first demanding a CBI probe into the matter, and the other requesting the court to seek a report on the number of illegal constructions in the Garden Reach area that is adjacent to the Kolkata Port.

The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday.

On Tuesday morning, Singh claimed that two years back, he had alerted different state and central agencies about the illegal constructions mushrooming in the area.

“In 2022, I sent letters to the Chief Justice of India, the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, Governor, Chief Minister, state Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Minister, the Kolkata Police Commissioner, and the Enforcement Directorate about the menace of illegal constructions in the area. 

"But my letters did not yield any result. What happened in Garden Reach is just the tip of the iceberg. Even a minor earthquake in Kolkata can trigger the collapse of several such buildings in Garden Reach,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, hearing a separate case related to illegal constructions in West Bengal on Tuesday, Justice Amrita Sinha of the Calcutta High Court drew reference to the building collapse in Garden Reach, as she observed that her bench won't put a stay on any order passed by a lower court regarding demolition of illegal constructions. 

“Sometimes it takes years to demolish an illegal construction, while it takes just 30 seconds for an illegal construction to collapse,” Justice Sinha observed.