Kolkata, Sep 4 (IANS) A section of the balcony and roof of an old building at Sovabazar in West Bengal’s capital city of Kolkata collapsed on Friday.
Locals have claimed that the condition of the building was extremely dilapidated and even the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) authorities have marked the building as dangerous.
Immediately after the collapse, the local residents rescued two of the building’s occupants.
There is no likelihood of anyone else being trapped inside the building.
However, the state fire services department and the state disaster management teams are searching the debris to check if any pedestrians might be trapped underneath.
The house collapse took place at the Sovabazar area in North Kolkata.
The house was located at 66, Raja Nabakrishna Street and situated within a lane.
According to local residents, a portion of the house’s balcony and roof suddenly collapsed onto the street on Friday afternoon.
Neighbours rushed to the spot upon noticing the collapse.
Two residents were inside the house at the time of the collapse.
The local people quickly navigated through the debris and brought them out safely.
At the same time, the neighbours also informed the state fire services department, police and the state disaster management department.
The police cordoned off the area. The state disaster management team members started working to clear the debris, and a couple of sniffer dogs were brought to check if anyone was trapped underneath the debris.
It is learnt that persistent rains during the last few days have caused waterlogging in various parts of Kolkata, and the rainfall is weakening sections of many old buildings in the city like the one at Sovabazar.
A state fire services department insider said that the cause behind the collapse of this building on Raja Nabakrishna Street will also be investigated.
The local people alleged that the KMC, in this case, finished its duty, by tagging the said building as dangerous.
“The KMC had not paid attention to this matter earlier. Now, there is not even any Councillor, since the previous KMC board had been dismantled. Besides the two rescued from the debris, there were two other persons staying at the house as tenants. But at the time of the collapse, they were not in the house. We rescued the other two people who were caught in the rubbles,” a local resident said.
–IANS
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