The temporary freeze on constructions will apply to residential buildings that are G+5 (six storeys) or higher and to commercial buildings, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari clarified on a day the Garden Reach death toll rose to 16.
Under-construction residential buildings lower than G+5 are understood to be exempt from the freeze.
Repairs and renovation of residential buildings or the addition of small extensions, such as a kitchen or a toilet, that are being done under an approved plan will not be stopped, the chief minister said.
Suvendu had announced a suspension of construction till July 31, and a safety audit of all building sites in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) areas, after the roof of an under-construction warehouse at Garden Reach caved in on Wednesday.
All residential high-rises and commercial buildings will also undergo fire safety and lightning arrester audits within three months, Suvendu said on Friday.
Five more deaths on Friday raised the warehouse toll to 16. One of the injured died at SSKM Hospital, and three workmen rescued from the crash site since Thursday midnight were declared dead on arrival at the same hospital.
Deadline clarity
Real estate developers had been wondering whether the ban on construction would hold across the board till July 31 or whether it would be lifted for individual sites once they had been audited and found compliant with the rules.
Suvendu sought to clear the air on Friday.
“A question may arise whether all ongoing construction will remain shut till July 31 or buildings will get clearance after the audit is complete,” he said.
He explained that the audits can have three outcomes. One, a site may be refused clearance to resume construction in case of gross violations.
Two, it can be offered an opportunity to make rectifications. Three, construction can be cleared straight away.
“The constructions that are fine will get clearance once their case is examined. Our objective is not to stop everything or to stop urbanisation. We want to stop what happened in Garden Reach, Kasba, Tiljala and Taratala, the incidents we saw in one year,” Suvendu said.
Wednesday’s roof collapse in Garden Reach had taken place, technically, in the Taratala police station’s area.
Three people had died in May after a fire broke out at a leather goods manufacturing unit in G.J. Khan Road, Topsia, near Tiljala. At least 13 people were killed when an under-construction building that lacked a KMC-approved plan collapsed in Garden Reach in March 2024.
“We are undertaking a special audit of high-rises and commercial buildings, except running government departments and emergency services, in some specific areas till July 31,” Suvendu said.
“In case of residential buildings, those that are (at least) G+5 will be considered as high-rises.”
He added: “Renovations of residential buildings or extensions with an approved plan will be exempt (from the ban). Suppose the balcony has been damaged or the stairway is crumbling or someone wants to make a kitchen or a toilet and have obtained permission from the corporation — these will be exempt (from the ban).”
Metro exempt: Suvendu said the national highway authorities, state highway development corporation, Metro Railway and the railways would also be exempt from the ban.
Following the announcement of the audit drive, the KMC has set up borough-level teams that will visit the construction sites.
“We have also asked the committee (which will monitor the audits) to conduct an audit of fire (safety) and lightning arresters in high-rises and commercial buildings,” Suvendu said.
“Fire compliance was an issue in the Tiljala case. The Garden Reach building had no plan and in Taratala there was no supervision and the plan was defective.”
The audit monitoring committee met at the KMC headquarters on Friday evening. “We will prepare an SOP before the inspections begin,” a senior KMC official said after the meeting.
The committee is made up of senior bureaucrats and representatives from Rites and Ircon, railway subsidiaries that provide consultancy for construction projects.
Freeze widened: Suvendu had on Thursday extended the temporary building ban from KMC areas to Greater Kolkata areas including New Town, Baruipur and Sonarpur. On Friday, he brought the Kamarhati, Baranagar and South Dum Dum municipal areas — all to the north of Calcutta — under the freeze.
The temporary building ban now applies across Calcutta, New Town, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat, Sonarpur-Rajpur, Pujali, Maheshtala, Budge Budge, Baranagar, South Dum Dum, Kamarhati, parts of Bally, parts of the Howrah municipal area, Pujali and the Bishnupur rural area (near Joka).
“The wards in Howrah and Bally where the ban will be in place will be identified by Monday,” Suvendu said.
He said the municipal affairs department secretary would issue directions on the ban (relating to urban areas).
The South 24-Parganas district magistrate will issue the directions for Pailan, Amtala and Bishnupur-I block since these are rural areas.
The KMC will blacklist the architect and the planner who had signed the undertaking for the Garden Reach warehouse, Suvendu said.
“There was no supervision in this case,” he said.
Kalicharan Banerjee, officer on special duty to Firhad Hakim when he was mayor, was produced before an Alipore court on Friday after his arrest late on Thursday evening. He has been sent to police custody till July 4.
Builders’ worry: Real estate developers have welcomed the state government’s intent behind the temporary building ban while voicing concern about the financial losses they would have to bear.
“It’s good that large projects will come under the scanner. The builders, especially the big ones, will come off with flying colours and earnmore credibility if the audit finds all large projects adhering to the rules,” a real estate developer said on Friday.
Some developers, who said they would have to ask their labourers to return home because of the freeze, are unsure how fast they would be able to re-mobilise the workersand machines once they receive the go-ahead after the audit.
“The workmen are likely to move to other states for jobs. They cannot wait a month without any earnings. Getting them back once the ban is lifted will be a huge challenge,” a builder said.
“The inability to do any work for a month will lead to financial losses that some builders might find difficult to absorb.”
Firhad plaint: Members of the Bharatiya Janata Mazdoor Cell lodged a complaint against former mayor of Calcutta Firhad Hakim and others for alleged unauthorised constructions, including the one at Garden Reach. The complaint was lodged at Taratala police station on Friday.