North Dum Dum Municipality on Monday issued a stop-work order to the promoter of the under-construction building in Birati from where a portion of the rooftop wall fell on a woman and killed her at the spot on Saturday night.
A team from the civic body inspected the site on Monday afternoon and pasted the stop-work notice on the boundary wall of the structure, near the main gate that faces the road in front.
A senior official of the municipality, who was in the team that visited the building, said they would allow no further construction till a probe by a five-member committee of the civic body into the quality of materials used and the construction techniques is over.
An engineer of the civic body said they had observed a “very thin layer of cement” between two in the walls. “Visually the layer of cement between the bricks in all the walls looked very thin. The layer was loose and in several places, it crumbled when we touched it with our bare hands,” the engineer said.
Bidhan Biswas, the chairperson of North Dum Dum Municipality, said builders must cover the facade of a building under construction with a safety net. The structures also need to be covered by plastic sheets to prevent dust from spreading.
“The builder of the Birati building did not put up any safety net, in violation of rules. A preliminary inspection carried out by our officials has revealed that poor materials were used in the construction,” Biswas said.
“A detailed inspection will be carried out to know about the construction techniques. It seems the labourers somehow dislodged a portion of the rooftop wall by leaning on it or by using hammers near the portion that collapsed. Samples of the construction materials have been collected for tests.”
The local Trinamul Congress MP, Saugata Roy, on Monday visited the family of the 53-year-old woman who died, Keya Sharma Chowdhury.
“We asked Roy to ensure that a thorough probe is conducted by the cops and the civic body. We asked him to ensure that we get justice,” said Sudip Sharma Chowdhury, the victim’s husband.
The family’s house is next to the under-construction building. The two buildings share a boundary wall.
Sudip and Keya were watching TV at home when the woman received a call on her mobile phone around
9pm.
The couple’s son Souvik had said on Sunday: “She was walking outside the home and speaking on the phone. We suddenly heard a loud noise of something falling. We rushed out and found my mother bleeding and unconscious. Multiple bricks had fallen straight on her head. We rushed her to hospital but she died of the injuries.”
The promoter of the under-construction building, Goutam Dey, his partners Sajib Sen and Souvik Majumdar, and the contractor, Ajay Patel, were arrested on Sunday. They have been charged under IPC sections on culpable homicide not amounting to murder and using poor quality materials.
Across the city, builders often ignore the rule on putting up a safety net and dust cover around under-construction buildings. The bricks from the rooftop terrace would not have fallen on Keya Sharma Chowdhury had there been a safety net around the building.
Architect Abin Chaudhuri said the rule is flouted in most places.
“The rule is widely flouted in pockets that are witnessing a rapid real-estate growth.
The safety nets don’t cost much and they can save lives. A section of builders and promoters refuses to comply with the safety measure to save money. But that is a
recipe for disaster,” said Chaudhuri.
The architect also said that a newly erected wall should have the correct ratio of sand and cement in the mortar mix, which acts as the binding agent for bricks.