Minor dead as roof collapses in Kolkata
The victim was a 17-year-old girl. A bigger disaster was averted since other members of the family were away.
kolkata Updated: Sep 16, 2017 11:11 IST
Hindustan Times
A 17-year old girl, Pooja Gupta, died when a part of a roof of a single-storeyed building collapsed near Tala in north Kolkata around 2 am on Saturday. Despite being declared unsafe in 2001, several people were living in it.
This is the second instance of loss of life in poorly maintained buildings in the city in 11 days. On September 5, three of a family were killed when parts of a three-storeyed building, declared dangerous by civic authorities, collapsed in a densely-populated area near Nimtolla in north Kolkata.
The house near Tala post office where the tragedy took place on Saturday, too, was and old one and poorly maintained. It is located Kolkata and was within the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area. However, locals could not say if this structure, too, was declared unsafe by the civic authorities.
The local councillor pointed out that the civic authorities declared the building dangerous 16 years ago, but the residents continued to live in it.
The loud thud brought neighbours rushing to the spot. They found the girl critically injured and took her to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared her ‘brought dead’.
The locals started clearing the rubble even before the police and fire brigade personnel arrived.
On July 25, a portion of an almost 100-year-old building collapsed in the city killing two people. That building, too, was declared hazardous by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
