The Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s special audit committee is scrutinizing clearances granted by the previous Trinamool Congress-controlled board for multi-storey structures in and around the state capital since 2021. This move comes after a recent tragedy where 16 people lost their lives in the collapse of an under-construction warehouse in Taratala, prompting the KMC to conduct a special audit of all under-construction multi-storey buildings under its jurisdiction.
All sanctions and clearances for multi-storey structures approved by the previous Trinamool Congress-controlled board in the KMC are now under review by the special audit committee. The decision to include this issue in the special audit was made due to alarming findings in the preliminary audit report on under-construction multi-storey buildings within the KMC’s jurisdiction, which was presented in the Assembly.
According to the preliminary audit report, only seven percent of the under-construction multi-storey structures in and around Kolkata passed the scrutiny of the Corporation’s high-power audit committee. Out of the 160 structures reviewed by the committee, only 11 were cleared, while serious defects and negligence were found in 23 others.
The audit report highlighted severe lapses in the construction of the 23 structures, including the use of substandard materials and disregard for worker safety. The KMC has ordered an immediate halt to work on these buildings until the identified defects are rectified in compliance with regulations. Additionally, the audit reports of the remaining 41 structures are under scrutiny by the technical sub-committee before further decisions are made.
“The audit report exposes widespread corruption in the approval process for building sanctions under the previous KMC board. This is just the beginning, and hence, the special audit committee’s scope of inspection is being expanded,” revealed a KMC insider.
