Kolkata’s mayor Firhad Hakim called up former Supreme Court judge Asok Kumar Ganguly on his mobile phone, when he was at a news conference called to protest illegal construction and the authorities’ failure to prevent it, to tell him that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was taking steps to deal with the menace.
Ganguly, one of the speakers at the news conference at Press Club Kolkata, had just finished criticising the state government and the KMC for the mushrooming of illegal structures when he got the call.
The former judge spoke to the caller briefly sitting on the dais and addressed him as tumi, a term that signifies familiarity with the other person.
He hung up and let everyone know who the caller was. An enthusiastic reporter asked: “Were you threatened?”
The judge said “no”.
“The mayor said the KMC is taking steps to address the menace of unauthorised construction,” Ganguly said while narrating his conversation over the phone.
“But that isn’t enough. Ekhon eta paraye paraye (It is now in every neighbourhood),” he said he told the mayor.
The former judge said the mayor referred to the menace of unauthorised construction dating back to the Left regime.
“The Left regime ended 12 years back. Why didn’t you demolish the buildings? Is there any point in saying such things?” he was heard saying over the phone.
In Garden Reach, an under-construction building had caved in on March 17, killing 12 people.
“This (the one that killed 12 people) was an under-construction building. Your men are supposed to see to it,” Ganguly said over the phone.
He later told The Telegraph that the menace was not restricted to Garden Reach.
“In my area, in front of my house, there is a park. Just behind the park, there is such a building. A portion of it was demolished. A month later, it was repaired and two floors
were added,” he said.
Ganguly lives at Kabitirtha Park in Kidderpore, which is in Ward 76 of the KMC. He also spoke of a six-storey building in a narrow lane. The councillor of the ward is Sasthi Das.
Ganguly quoted Hakim as asking him why he had not informed the mayor or the councillor. “How will I reach you? You ask Sasthi what he was doing,” Ganguly said. “Shob jaygaye hochhey (It’s happening everywhere).”
Das later told The Telegraph that as councillor he was not empowered to find out whether a construction was authorised or not.
“I’m not aware of the building that has been talked about, but there is no six-storey building there. There was a four-storey building, which was allegedly being built illegally. I have informed the executive engineer of the borough about it,” Das said.
“I will find out the details and reply.”
Ganguly also referred to councillor Shams Iqbal, in whose ward the building that collapsed was coming up.
“I asked the mayor how your councillor (referring to Iqbal) can own a car worth Rs 5-6 crore? The mayor said it was the councillor’s father’s money,” Ganguly said.
Asked what he thought was the reason for Hakim’s call in the middle of a news conference, Ganguly said the mayor possibly wanted to know why he was speaking against unauthorised construction.
“But he spoke decently and there was no threat whatsoever. It was very unusual and everyone was surprised,” Ganguly later said.
During the telephone conversation, Ganguly also asked Hakim why the state government is paying compensation to the families of the deceased and the injured in the Garden Reach building collapse.
“There is a principle in law called polluters pay. Why should the state government pay from the taxpayers’ money. The polluters should pay. Even if an unauthorised construction doesn’t collapse, it pollutes the place and adds to the strain on the
drainage and sewerage systems. Shaharer toh ekta plan achhey (There is a plan for the city).”