Design flaw led to Taratala warehouse collapse? At least 4 dead, rescue ops underway for 18 trapped

At least four people have died after the roof of an under-construction warehouse in Kolkata's Taratala area collapsed on Wednesday.

The tragedy led to 17 others hospitalised, in addition to about 18 people who remain trapped under the debris, for whom rescue operations are ongoing.

The CM said that the rescue operations were taking place on a war footing by the Army, NDRF, SDRF, Kolkata Police and the KMC.

After inspecting the rescue efforts in the afternoon, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari alleged at a press conference at Nabanna that the building—approved by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) when the Trinamool Congress was still in power in the state—had a "faulty building plan".

He also revealed that it was the KMC's own engineers that told him about the alleged faults in the plan for the warehouse, but did not go into further details about how exactly it was flawed, or why it had been approved by the KMC on January 17 in the first place.

"It seems that the iron beams weren't strong enough to hold the weight of the overhead concrete. Also, standing here, I cannot see any braces which are required to support the RCC casting," a structural engineer at the site of the tragedy told PTI.

In that regard, some locals have alleged that large-scale illegal construction activities had been carried out in the area for some time.

The land for the collapsed warehouse, lease-held by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMPK), had been leased by Shambhunath Behra of the Behara Brothers.

The 1970-born company primarily handles the storage of tea and other such products, in addition to logistics services.

The 6,689-square-metre plot was leased to Behara Brothers for a period of 30 years—effective from August 1, 2024—for setting up a warehouse and cold storage facility, the report added, citing a port official.

What next?

The CM also declared on Wednesday that the construction of all multi-storey buildings approved by the TMC government will remain suspended till July 31.

A team of officials from the State Works Department, Civil Defence Department, Fire Department, Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipality will inspect them for compliance and submit a report, after which decisions will be taken on them.

Construction activities found to be in compliance with the law will be able to resume from August 1.

The CM is also scheduled to meet with the injured at the SSKM Hospital later, while details of compensations for the injured and the families of the deceased will be announced on Thursday.