BJP's Suvendu Adhikari files RTI on Kolkata building collapse

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on the collapse of an illegal under-construction building in Kolkata's western fringes claiming at least nine lives and injuring several others.

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

Adhikari, also the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, said, ''In the aftermath of the Garden Reach tragedy, the unpreparedness of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has been totally exposed.'' ''As a responsible leader of the opposition, I have initiated the process of data compilation regarding the process of sanctioning building plans, rejection of the same, issuing of completion certificates, identification and demolition of illegal buildings etc,'' he posted on X.

He also said this data would certainly help in ''assessing the risk posed by the illegal buildings which have been built without valid permission''.

The RTI petition, filed with the state public information officer, sought details like the number of applications which were submitted for obtaining sanction plans between January 1, 2010 and March 18, 2024, and how many of them were sanctioned and rejected among others. In the aftermath of the five-storey building, allegedly being constructed by filling up a water body, crumbling down on neighbourhood shanties in the thickly-populated Azhar Mollah Bagan area of Garden Reach, Adhikari had claimed that the locality teemed with no less than 800 such unauthorised buildings.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Monday visited the collapse site and assured locals of stern action against the promoters of illegal real estate. She also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured.

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