Kolkata: Kalicharan Banerjee, former OSD to ex-mayor Firhad Hakim, arrested in connection with the Taratala warehouse collapse that killed 16 people, was granted bail by an Alipore district judge’s court on Tuesday, 105 days after his arrest. Banerjee is the second person to get bail in the case. Three days ago, the same court had granted bail to Aminur Sheikh, the sub-assistant engineer of KMC who was arrested for “negligence”. Sources said the court granted him bail against a bond of Rs 50,000. He was arrested on June 25, a day after the three-storey structure collapsed.Meanwhile, in a major reshuffle ordered by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, several top-ranking officers holding key portfolios have been transferred. While the director-general (DG) of the buildings department, Ujjwal Sarkar, one of the controlling officers who was under the lens after the Taratala warehouse collapse and Free School Street hotel inferno, has been transferred to Uttaran (bustee development) services, DG (roads) Sukanta Das has been replaced by Subhajit Dasgupta who is currently posted as DG (market).Subhasish Chattopadhyay, who holds the solitary chief engineer post, has been transferred from KEIIP to the civic body’s store and purchase department. A few weeks ago, he was transferred from the solid waste management department to look after the ADB-funded drainage upgrade work.Eyebrows are being raised in civic corridors over the manner in which Chattopadhyay was transferred twice in a short duration. “He happens to be the only chief engineer in the KMC. He has been transferred to a department where his transfer is being viewed as a demotion. More than the person, the sanctity of the chief engineer’s chair has been dragged into a controversy,” said a senior official.Much interest has also been generated in the transfer of the KMC buildings department top official. While the present DG has been transferred to the bustee department, all eyes will now be on Biplab Paul, who has been assigned to run the building department as an acting DG. Paul has been transferred from the planning and development department.
