58-year-old injured as building collapses in Kolkata’s Girish Park – Times of India

Kolkata News

KOLKATA: A portion of a balcony of a two-storied building collapsed at Dayal Som Lane in the Girish Park area, injuring one resident seriously. The injured person — identified as Golok Chandra Das (58) — was trapped in the first floor room along with three other family members. All of them were rescued by a police team. Das was rushed to Calcutta Medical College hospital .
The incident took place around 1.30 pm and considering the density of the population in the area, the accident could have been disastrous, felt a Kolkata Municipal Corporation buildings department official. On Sunday, a large portion of a three-storied building collapsed in a Bhowanipore neighbourhood. Both the buildings are century-old and needed thorough repair and these buildings were listed as insecure ones, said another KMC official, adding that incessant rains could lead to many more such accidents in the days to come.
According to a KMC engineer, the reason behind the collapse of a large number of unsafe buildings lies in the fact that most of these buildings are century-old and made of lime and mortar. “Instead of using cement, the owners of most of these century-old buildings had used lime. When water seeps into the structure after a heavy rain , the lime used as cementing agent weakens leading to collapse of a building,” the civic engineer said.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/58-yr-old-injured-as-bldg-collapses-in-girish-park/articleshow/84771632.cms