Crack in building, civic body's FIR against developers

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has filed an FIR against three developers who are constructing a four-storey building at Behala's S N Roy Road which developed a crack on Tuesday afternoon, triggering widespread panic among local residents.
The civic authorities have also decided to take appropriate action' against a structural engineer who had given a clean chit to the structural stability of the under-construction building a week ago.
Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who rushed to the spot on Tuesday evening, said though the civic body had decided to demolish the building which has now become insecure, it's an uphill task for the KMC building department to do that. "We have brought the matter to the notice of the Indian Army and the disaster management unit under the state government. We need to coordinate with them to pull down the insecure structure," Chatterjee said.
The mayor said that S R Bhattacharya, a structural engineer registered with the KMC building department, had given a fitness certificate (structural stability) to the building on March 8. "We will take appropriate action against him once his guilt is proved. He may be blacklisted from our panel of structural engineers," Chatterjee said on Wednesday.
Bhattacharya, however, said though a crack had appeared on the building, it was repairable and there was no need to demolish the building. "It can happen with any type of construction," he said.