Indian tower block faces third demolition after twice sprouting new floors.
Most demolition professionals will sooner or later come up against a structure that proves difficult to demolish. But very few have come up against a building that respawns each time it’s demolished.
And yet that is precisely what has happened to the upper two floors of a residential building in India that have sprung back to stand tall in defiance after being demolished twice in three years.
The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) had first demolished the top two floors of 5F Palm Avenue in April 2007 after a campaign against illegal constructions. The building was, however, back to its original height within a few months of the demolition.
A second demolition drive was carried out in November 2008 after the illegal reconstruction came to light. But once again, the two floors were rebuilt in quick time.
“The promoter bribed officials of the civic body as well as the local police station to reconstruct the demolished portions. This illegal building is living proof of the promoter-CMC-police nexus,” said a resident who met mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya following the Stephen Court tragedy to lodge a complaint.
“If there is a fire, there is no way the residents can get out of here unscathed. Even fire tenders cannot enter the lane because of the narrow approach to the building,” he added.
Mayor Bhattacharyya, who had promised to increase surveillance and initiate action against promoters, landlords and civic officials involved in illegal constructions, expressed surprise at the “rebirth” of the two illegal floors.
“It is strange that these two illegal floors came up again. We will demolish the illegal portion of the building again,” Bhattacharyya said on Sunday.
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