Kolkata, June 26 (IANS) With the death toll in the tragedy related to the collapse of the roof of an under-construction warehouse at Taratala rising to 15 by Friday morning, West Bengal Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, announced the total blacklisting of both the construction company involved in building the warehouse and also the architect of the structure.

This means that they cannot pick up any projects, private or government, in the state anymore.

“There was lack of monitoring on part of the construction company Ayan Traders. The architect of the structure cannot also shy away from his responsibilities in the matter. That is precisely why the construction company and the architect of the structure have been blacklisted,” the Chief Minister told media persons on Friday afternoon.

It is learnt that one person Sambhunath Behra, took the land on lease from the Kolkata Port Trust Authorities on a 30-year lease for construction of a three-storey warehouse there. Behra gave the job of construction to Ayan Traders, which had been handling many construction projects in the port area.

A preliminary probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kolkata Police in the case related to the under-construction warehouse roof collapse at Taratala on Wednesday, has revealed that a combination of two factors — the use of poor-quality construction material and adopting a flawed casting pattern — led to the mishap, which has already claimed 15 lives.

At the same time, the Kolkata Police said they were unable to ascertain the exact number of workers present at the under-construction warehouse site in Taratala at the time of the collapse, as no attendance record had been maintained by the managers.

According to the police, there was no workers’ register at the warehouse and, therefore, there is no accurate count of how many people might still be trapped under the rubble.

According to Chief Minister Adhikari, it was the responsibility of Ayan Traders as well as the architect to monitor and review whether the construction was being done following the standard safety practices and using quality construction materials.

“But in this case, there was not even the minimum monitoring. So, they have been blacklisted. This is the beginning. Be rest assured that no one responsible for this mishap will be spared,” said the Chief Minister.

He also issued an appeal to the common people, that anyone becoming victims of forgery in building plans should immediately approach the local police station. “We will surely take action,” the Chief Minister said.

–IANS

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