A committee constituted by the Bengal government to carry out a special audit of sanctioned plans for high-rise residential and commercial buildings in and around the city will meet on Friday to begin the exercise, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said.

Following the warehouse collapse in the city that left 15 people dead, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had ordered a comprehensive audit of all commercial projects under construction, which the previous TMC government approved.

The chief minister had also suspended the work on all such projects until July 31.

Adhikari said that construction projects would be allowed to resume as soon as their plans and structures are cleared following the scrutiny.

Addressing a press conference here, Adhikari said the committee, headed by senior officer Rajesh Pandey and comprising officials from various departments along with experts from RITES and IIT Kharagpur, would begin implementing the audit.

He clarified that the suspension on construction was not a blanket ban till July 31.

"Everyone does not have to wait till July 31. As and when a ward or project is examined and found satisfactory, clearance will be issued and work can begin. Our objective is not to halt urban development but to ensure public safety," he said.

The chief minister said the special audit, announced following a series of building collapse incidents in the state, would involve scrutiny of sanctioned plans for all high-rise residential and commercial buildings in the notified areas, followed by physical inspections to verify whether construction conforms to approved plans and prescribed safety norms.

The audit will initially cover the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Rajarhat-New Town, Kalyani, Baruipur, Budge Budge, Maheshtala and Rajpur-Sonarpur. South Dum Dum, Kamarhati, Baranagar and parts of the Howrah Municipal Corporation have also been brought under its ambit.

Metro Railway works, National Highways projects and other central and state government infrastructure projects have been kept outside the purview of the exercise, the CM said.

According to Adhikari, every project examined by the committee will fall into one of three categories -- rejection, rectification or clearance.

Projects with major violations may be rejected; those with deficiencies in design or construction will be directed to rectify them, while projects found compliant will receive immediate clearance to resume work.

Adhikari said routine renovation, repairs, restoration of damaged portions and permissible extensions to existing residential buildings would remain outside the scope of the audit.

The chief minister said the committee has also been given an additional 90-day mandate to audit fire safety systems, including lightning arresters, in high-rise and commercial buildings. The panel will also review firefighting infrastructure and fire licences.

Adhikari said the government would also undertake an audit of waterbodies in the identified urban areas.

He said directions would also be issued to ensure construction sites do not have stagnant water, while developers would be asked to keep sites properly maintained to prevent mosquito breeding and other public safety hazards.

He said large real estate developers had been verbally requested to provide food and temporary shelter to migrant construction workers whose work had been affected during the audit process.

Appealing to architects, planners, supervisors and other professionals associated with construction projects, Adhikari urged those who might have been forced to approve illegal buildings or pay kickbacks to approach the police.

"The government will investigate every complaint," the chief minister said.

On the ongoing rescue operation at the collapse site, Adhikari said the National Disaster Response Force had informed him that, weather permitting, the operation was likely to be completed by Friday night.