Kolkata, July 14 (IANS) The clearances granted by the previous Trinamool Congress-controlled board in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for multi-storey structures in and around the state capital since 2021 have now come under scrutiny of the KMC’s special audit committee.

Amid the recent collapse of an under-construction three-storey warehouse at Taratala in the southern outskirts of Kolkata, which took the lives of 16 people, KMC decided to conduct a special audit of all under-construction multi-storey structures in areas under the Corporation’s jurisdiction.

Now, all sanctions and clearances for multi-storey structures given by the previous Trinamool Congress-controlled board in KMC have come under the scanner of the special audit committee, sources said.

The decision to bring the clearances issue within the ambit of the special audit team has been taken following alarming revelations in the preliminary audit report on the under-construction multi-storey structures in areas under the KMC’s jurisdiction. The report was tabled in the Assembly on Monday.

As per the tabled preliminary audit report, only seven per cent of the under-construction multi-storey structures in and around Kolkata have passed scrutiny of the Corporation’s high-power audit committee.

Of the 160 under-construction multi-storey structures, which were physically reviewed by the KMC-appointed high-power audit committee, the committee cleared only 11 and detected serious defects and negligence in 23.

As per the audit report, in the case of these 23 under-construction multi-storey structures, severe lapses, such as the use of poor-quality construction materials and extreme indifference to the safety of workers, were detected.

The KMC has issued a strong message that work on these 23 multi-storey buildings, where defects were found, should be stopped immediately. The files have been sent back to the developers and promoters concerned for the speedy rectification of the defects. No work can be carried out there until the defects are completely rectified in accordance with the rules.

In addition, the audit reports of the remaining 41 under-construction multi-storey structures have currently been sent to the technical sub-committee for scrutiny. Only if the green signal is received from there will the next decision be taken.

“The audit report on the under-construction multi-storey structures has revealed the rampant corruption involved in passing building sanctions during the previous KMC board. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hence, the decision had been taken to expand the ambit of inspection by the special-audit committee,” the KMC insider said.

–IANS

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