Nandaram market, where a concrete chunk fell and injured a labourer on Sunday. A Telegraph picture

At a joint meeting of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, Calcutta police and the fire services department on Monday, it was decided that the unsafe portions of Nandaram market and the Kashiram block of the building will be pulled down simultaneously.

In an earlier joint meeting on January 30, it was decided that unsafe portions of Nandaram would be pulled down after carrying out the demolition of the Kashiram block.

But that decision was reviewed after a labourer was injured at the site on Sunday. Balaram Yadav, a contractor’s labourer, employed by the Nandaram market traders to demolish the upper portions of the building, was injured when a concrete chunk from the 12th floor fell on him.

“We decided to bring down some portions of the building that are hanging precariously and causing safety concerns… We have started supervising the demolition exercise of the unsafe portions of Nandaram market,” director-general (building) Gora Chand Mondol told Metro on Monday after the meeting.

The meeting, held in the room of municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay, was attended by Zulfikar Hasan, the special additional commissioner of police (armed police), Ajay Ranade, the deputy commissioner of police (central) and D.P. Biswas, the director of fire services.

“The seal of approval on simultaneous demolition should have come earlier. We are lucky that Yadav received minor injuries. Given the condition of the upper floors of the building, anything could have happened,” said a local trader, blaming the civic body for the delay in demolition.

According to Burrabazar police station sources, the civic authorities did sit on the request to pull down the unsafe parts of the building.

“We had written letters to the civic body, seeking demolition of parts of the structure, but they did not react. We couldn’t have done much, as it is the responsibility of the corporation to bring down the illegal portion,” said the officer.

Sources at the civic headquarters said the CMC bosses were waiting for the signal from the Writers’ Buildings before taking a decision on Nandaram, as it had become a political issue.

“We had decided to demolish the building but it got delayed somehow. The demolition work of the adjacent building is on,” said Dipankar Dey, the mayoral council member (buildings).