The under-construction warehouse shed in Taratala on Wednesday afternoon prompted cabinet ministers Indranil Khan, Agnimitra Paul, Sharadwat Mukherjee and CM Suvendu Adhikari to reach the spot and take swift action.
This included mobilising the Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the Disaster Management Group (DMG), the Kolkata police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
Gas cutters and specialised equipment to cut through iron beams were sent to the spot within three hours: the incident occurred at 12:07 PM, and the equipment had reached by 3:20 PM, as per CM Adhikari.
“The machine needed to drill the iron is with the NDRF and Indian Army,” said Suvendu Adhikari.
NDRF teams assured Adhikari they had established contact with those trapped and working to rescue all people.
Referring to the erstwhile Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, Adhikari said this mobilisation of forces had not been there earlier.
The emphasis on effective action taken by the double-engine government was subtle, but apparent enough to suggest that the BJP government would not sit back and let a disaster unfold.
Adhikari’s visit to the accident site was brief, which he clarified later was because of a narrow entry and exit way, and since he did not want to speak to the media or come in the way of rescue operations.
The CM chose to come back to the state secretariat to do an elaborate press conference.
In this presser, he announced that five people had died and 20 had been injured, though the number is likely to go up.
An estimated 50 people were at the site when the accident occurred. 21 people were rescued, as of Wednesday evening, of which 18 are being treated at the government-run SSKM hospital.
Adhikari also visited the hospital later in the evening to meet victims and speak to the doctors treating them.
The building plan of the warehouse shed was sanctioned on January 17 this year and will be re-examined by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), civil defence, fire department and Kolkata police, after which a report will be prepared. The KMC engineers informed Adhikari the building plan was flawed.
The land belonging to Shyama Prasad Mookherjee Port Trust (SMPK) was leased to Sambunath Behera, a partner in Behera Brothers.
All other under-construction buildings in the city are now put on hold till July 31, as their building plans too will be re-examined, since most of them were sanctioned during the erstwhile TMC rule.
The swift action taken by the Suvendu government was, however, not good enough for the Mamata bloc of the TMC, with MP Mahua Moitra questioning the tragedy in the BJP-ruled state.
A compensation package will be announced by the CM in the West Bengal Assembly on Thursday. The session will begin with paying condolences to those who lost their lives in the tragedy.
With lives lost and emotions running high, the tragedy is an eye-opener for the new BJP government.
This is also similar to an earlier incident that saw an illegal under-construction building—operating as a residential house and factory—catch fire, soon after the new government took over.
This had left two dead and several others injured, which prompted urban development and municipal affairs minister, Agnimitra Paul, to re-examine and demolish all illegal portions of buildings.
Less than two months after coming to power, the new government wants to show they are committed to taking swift action to ensure the safety and welfare of the state and its people.
