Kolkata: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the Taratala warehouse collapse incident, seeking a detailed report on the matter from state government officials within two weeks.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the NHRC sent notices to the Kolkata Police Commissioner, the State Chief Secretary and the Municipal Commissioner, seeking information on what investigation has been carried out into the incident and how much compensation has been paid.
“The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that at least five labourers died and twenty others were injured when an under-construction warehouse building collapsed in the Taratala area of Kolkata district in West Bengal on 24th June 2026. Reportedly, 12 to 15 people were feared trapped under the debris. Allegedly, the sanctioned building plan was faulty, resulting in the tragedy,” read the statement.
“The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of human rights. Therefore, it has issued notices to the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Kolkata Police Commissioner and Municipal Commissioner, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks. The report is expected to include the status of the investigation as well as compensation, if any, paid to the next of kin of the deceased and injured,” it said.
On June 24, as many as 16 workers died when the roof of an under-construction warehouse collapsed on Transport Depot Road in Taratala area of south Kolkata.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that he had initially learned from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) that the accident was due to a flaw in the construction design.
The owner of the company that was building the warehouse on the land leased from the Kolkata Port Authority, the OSD of the former mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and several others have been arrested in this incident.
It is alleged that the KMC approved the flawed design through brokers and syndicates. Whether any financial transactions took place in the preparation of that design or not is also under the scanner of the investigators. Fingers are pointed at former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim.
Experts from Jadavpur University have started an investigation into the Taratala incident. Partha Pratim Biswas, a professor of construction engineering at the university, visited the site and said that they will investigate what kind of materials were used in the construction of the warehouse, what the design was like, and whether there was any negligence during the construction.
(IANS)
