Some of the pillars of a four-storey building near Tollygunge crumbled on Tuesday afternoon, tilting the structure dangerously above neighbouring premises.
The residents of the building, whose construction started around 2009-10, had been evacuated a few weeks earlier and the developer started efforts to try and address the tilting that was apparent.
Tuesday’s cave-in happened when such an effort was underway.
An official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said the building was constructed without any permit from the civic body.
Attempts to save the building were also undertaken illegally, KMC sources said.
Shubho Apartment, at 3/47/D Vidyasagar Colony in Naktala, came up in 2013. The building has eight flats.
Six of the flats were sold while two were with the developer, Subhash Roy, residents of the neighbourhood said. Roy had rented out one of the two flats.
In March 2024, days after an illegal building collapsed in Garden Reach and killed at least 13 people, Roy contacted the residents of 3/47/D Vidyasagar Colony and told them that the building needed a “lifting” to correct its “orientation”.
“We never faced any problem. But the family on the third floor used to complain that the orientation of their floor was wrong and that water in their washroom was not flowing in the right direction,” said Sheuli Bakshi, a resident of a ground-floor apartment.
Roy apparently identified the defect and took the initiative to repair it. Bakshi said the developer outsourced the work to a company named Nagra Construction.
“The accused persons carried out a hydraulic jacking work at 3/47/D Vidyasagar Colony. The work was done by Nagra Building Construction Pvt Ltd, owned by one Abhishek Nagra, under the supervision of the developer, Subhas Roy, without notifying the appropriate authorities or implementing proper structural and soil safety measures,” a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.
“The unsafe activity caused significant structural damage and finally caused structural collapse of the building. The nearby buildings were also damaged. No sanction plan could be obtained so far regarding the building.”
Following a complaint by the KMC, a case has been registered against the owners of the flats, the developer and the owner of Nagra Construction.
A resident said that according to a contract signed by the flat owners and Nagra Construction, the company was to complete the repairs within two months from the date the contract was signed.
The Telegraph tried to contact Roy but his phone was switched off.
The crumbling of the pillars was another example of how illegal buildings have mushroomed across the city.
There are many more such illegally constructed buildings that fail to attract the attention of the KMC unless there is a crash or loss of life.
Sheuli Bakshi, who owns an apartment in the Naktala building, said all the families had moved out on December 14 and have been staying in rented accommodation in the neighbourhood since.
“I came to know about the crash around 2.30pm. I ran to find that our flat was badly damaged. The portion that first caved in used to be our bedroom and kitchen,” Bakshi said.
KMC officials said the entire building has to be razed. “We have to ensure that no further damage is caused to the neighbouring buildings. The demolition work has started (on Tuesday),” said an official.
The families are clueless about how long they will have to stay in rented accommodation despite having their own homes.