CM puts blame on TMC as Kolkata toll rises to 11
Kolkata, June 26 -- The toll in the Kolkata warehouse collapse mounted to 11 on Thursday even as West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari reiterated his claim that corruption during the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government was responsible for the incident.
Meanwhile, the police arrested five people, including the owner of the warehouse business, Shambhu Nath Behera. The other arrested individuals are Gulzar Hussain, the project supervisor, Kamal Samanta, the fabricator of the structure, Dibakar Samanta, the labour supplier and Abdul Hamid, the broker who got the project sanctioned.
On Wednesday, a four-storey under-construction warehouse collapsed in south-west Kolkata's Taratala around 12.07 pm, prompting authorities to launch a large-scale rescue operation.
At least 25 people were rescued till Wednesday evening.
After the incident, the CM said that the building was reportedly flawed and its plan was possibly passed by the TMC-controlled Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in exchange for money.
"We have found all the records. What happened is a fallout of your sins. This building plan was sanctioned by you on January 17 this year. By taking money you have turned the City of Joy and greater Kolkata into a city of death. So many buildings collapsed and people died but you did not learn your lesson," Adhikari told the rebel TMC legislators whom the speaker recognised as the official opposition party.
Addressing the assembly on Thursday, the CM announced compensation of Rs.10 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs.1 lakh for the injured admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital. The Prime Minister's Office separately announced a compensation of Rs.2 lakh for the kin of the deceased and Rs.50,000 for the injured.
Adhikari attacked the TMC, naming three KMC engineers and former mayor Firhad Hakim's personal assistant Kalicharan Banerjee, referring to him as "Kali"
"It is found that Aminur Sheikh, sub-assistant engineer, Nirmalendu Sardar, assistant engineer and Ranjan Das, executive engineer, have not discharged their duties regarding the premises," Adhikari said.
Kolkata Police's SIT detained Firhad Hakim's former personal assistant Kalicharan Banerjee for questioning on Thursday.
Hakim claimed he had no idea about the building plan's sanctioning, even though the clearance certificate bore his signature.
The West Bengal government will publish department-wise white papers on corruption during the previous TMC regime, state finance minister Swapan Dasgupta said on Thursday. "We have decided to publish white papers on corruption in every department of the state government during the previous regime. The finance department would state in its white paper how such a huge debt accumulated. We would also publish the CAG reports of all the departments which were never published," Dasgupta said....
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