Mayor Firhad Hakim has denied the allegations made by the residents about the local councillor being aware of the activity. Replying to the question as to how the illegal construction did not come to the knowledge of the local councillor, the mayor said, “Having knowledge of which building is being constructed legally or illegally is not the job of the councillor, but the officials. There was definitely a lack of vigil on the part of the officials otherwise how could such an incident occur. Why was there no notice? Why was there no dairy in the police station? We will see these angles but now our priority is to save the residents trapped under the debris.

Citing reasons, the mayor pointed out, “Mainly what happens, those who are illegal promoters immediately make the tenants reside in the illegally-constructed houses. Such people are poor. Their money is earned after hardships. At that point such structures cannot be demolished and this is a problem. The only solution is that the administration has to be strict. If there is an illegal construction, action needs to be taken immediately.”

While informing that the building was illegally constructed, the mayor alleged that such practices were a continuation from the previous regime. “Such practices have been a trend at this place and even in pockets from the Left regime,” claimed the mayor. “I have heard that citing hassles of paperwork at the BLRO office, people would opt for illegal constructions. To avoid this, we have brought the BLRO office of the added areas to KMC. We have also made the Thika Tenancy easier. In addition, Banglar Bari is also being made for those poor who have no houses. We are trying our best. Despite the fact, if such things continue, keeping a tab on what construction is being done in which lane, is difficult for us,” said the mayor.

Carrying on with his clarification on illegal constructions, the mayor said, “We will definitely have to take action against such structures. We will now try to find out with the help of the engineers, if there are more such buildings in the vicinity. Definitely the vigil needs to be enhanced. I cannot understand, despite the processes being made too easy, why these things still continue to take place.”