A two-year-old child and an elderly woman were killed on 29 September when their house at 9 Ahiritola Lane collapsed in the morning, leaving another nine residents trapped inside.

A total of two families were rescued while the board chairman of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Firhad Hakim has called for court intervention in framing specific eviction laws against residents of dilapidated buildings for the safety of their lives.

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With torrential showers lashing the city from late midnight, a tragedy visited 9 Ahiritola Lane early morning as the second floor of a two-storied dilapidated building collapsed. The KMC demolition teams, Kolkata Police, fire personnel, state disaster management personnel and NDRF teams conducted a five-hour-long rescue operation till they managed to extricate the victims from the rubble.

A two-year-old child and an elderly woman, later identified as the child’s grandmother, were trapped deep under the debris and were unconscious when finally rescued and shifted to hospital. The parents were too rescued as electric cutters were used to disintegrate big portions of the structure which blocked escape routes of the victims.

The injured were shifted to RG Kar and Calcutta Medical College. The child and the grandmother were declared brought dead by the hospital. The father of the deceased child is in observation but has reportedly escaped grievous injuries. The mother, who was pregnant, gave birth to a child in the hospital. However, she wasn’t informed of her daughter’s death to prevent further trauma.

Trinamul MLA and Cabinet minister Shashi Panja, fire minister Sujit Bose, Firhad Hakim, and Kolkata Police commissioner Somen Mitra reached the spot and reviewed the situation.

Hakim said, “This was a ghastly incident. The KMC had already warned the residents of the building regarding a possible collapse. The structure was identified in the KMC’s dangerous building category but no heed was paid to our warnings. Such incidents will continue unless there are proper laws to strengthen eviction in cases where residents are continuing to live despite the precarious condition of the building.”

Commenting on whether KMC has the right to evict residents of dilapidated buildings, Hakim said, “The main reason behind ill-maintenance of such structures is legal disputes between owners and tenants. The problem is whenever we try to evict such residents for their safety we are accused of colluding with promoters to evict them so a new structure can come up. This has to change for the safety of lives.”

KMC demolition team has been engaged while Hakim said even after this if the residents want to continue to live here we will make temporary makeshift arrangements for them.

Panja echoed Hakim’s concerns and said there are many such dilapidated buildings in Kolkata where residents continue to live despite knowing the risks. There has been substantial rainfall in the city for long hours which further weakened these structures leading to collapse, she highlighted.