Kolkata: The high-power committee formed by the govt to audit under-construction high-rise buildings after the Taratala warehouse collapse has cleared only 11 of the 136 projects surveyed so far. The remaining projects are stuck over non-compliance with labour registration and orientation requirements.In all, 344 projects are under scrutiny. The Bengal govt and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) had ordered an immediate halt to all construction work on June 24-25 after the warehouse collapse, which claimed 16 lives. CM Suvendu Adhikari had said work would resume only after under-construction buildings were audited and cleared.KMC commissioner and administrator Smita Pandey said on Monday that 200 of the 344 under-construction high-rise buildings, whose plans were sanctioned in the past three years, had submitted the three-page form with details of project sanction, permit number and key personnel involved. Sixteen expert teams — one from each borough — have conducted field visits at 136 sites. Of them, 11 have been cleared to resume construction. Pandey said the remaining projects were held up after the labour sub-committee flagged issues that needed to be addressed.Labour department officials, who are part of each audit team along with representatives from KMC’s buildings, water supply, and drainage departments, fire brigade, PWD, CESC and Kolkata Police, are inspecting labour facilities at sites. These include workers’ quarters, toilets, drinking water, safety nets, use of helmets and harnesses, safe securing of construction equipment to prevent accidents during storms, lightning conductors on tower cranes, and adherence to safety procedures.Sources said labour licence registration, which is mandatory when more than 20 contract workers are employed in a project, was rarely followed. Developers, as principal employers, often shifted the responsibility to labour contractors, who allegedly reported fewer workers to avoid paying provident fund and meeting other statutory obligations.“Developers pay a labour cess to KMC that depends on the project valuation. But there is no communication between the KMC and the labour department on this. Also, a bigger problem is the lack of licensing for labour contractors and supervisors. While most developers will now meet the labour licence registration requirement, it will not have any effect on the safety of a construction,” said an architect.A Credai functionary said it will urge all developers to adhere to the labour laws and get the labour licence registration done at the earliest so that projects can be cleared and construction can resume.
