Apartment building collapses in south Kolkata
Kolkata, Jan 14: An apartment building collapsed in south Kolkata's Bagha Jatin area on Tuesday while work was underway to strengthen its foundation, officials said.
The incident happened around 1.30 pm in Kolkata Municipal Corporation's ward 99 near the SC Mallick Road, they said.
No one was injured in the incident as the four-storied building was vacated, they added.
A Haryana-based firm was given the contract by the developer to strengthen the foundation as the 10-year-old building had tilted to the right over time, an official of the KMC said.
For the works, the residents were shifted to another building in the area, he said.
However, the KMC was not informed about it, the official said.
The entire building is likely to be razed now, he said.
A case has been lodged against the developer who is now on the run, police said.
Jadavpur MLA Debabrata Majumdar said the work was started by the developer without any authorisation and strict action will be taken against him.
In March last year, 13 people were killed after an under-construction building collapsed in the Garden Reach area of the city.
The owner of one of the flats in the collapsed building alleged that an additional floor was added illegally and low-quality materials were used in the construction.
"We had not dared to protest as they are powerful people with political patronage. Now, what will happen to us? We had spent all our savings to buy this flat," the woman said.
A newly constructed building in #Kolkata's Baghajatin, titled 60 degrees and collapsed after the base of ground floor caved in due to the poor quality of the construction material used. #Watch
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) January 14, 2025
All residents of the residence have been safely evacuated, no one was injured in this… pic.twitter.com/wz1BcuRPze
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Rahul Gandhi joins Haryana Congress leader's 'Sadbhav Yatra' in Gurugram
Gurugram (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday joined the 'Sadbhav Yatra' of Haryana Congress leader Brijendra Singh here.
Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, reached Gurugram in the evening and joined the yatra. He also walked some distance with Brijendra, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh and other leaders.
Huge crowds had turned up for the occasion.
Later, Gandhi proceeded to the venue where he addressed a public gathering.
Leader of Opposition in Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders, including Randeep Singh Surjewala, B K Hariprasad, state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh, were also present.
Brijendra Singh had on Thursday said it is a matter of joy for them that Gandhi was joining the 'Sadbhav Yatra' in Gurugram-Badshahpur, "thereby strengthening the Indian National Congress' campaign for brotherhood and harmony".
The 'Sadbhav Yatra' began from Danoda village at Narwana in Jind on October 5, 2025, and has covered 85 of the 90 assembly segments in the state.
The foot march was started by Brijendra Singh, son of Congress veteran Birender Singh, to highlight several national and regional issues.
State Congress chief Rao Narender Singh had asked all party leaders to take part in Friday's event.
Days before his yatra began in October, Brijendra Singh, who narrowly lost the 2024 assembly polls from Jind's Uchana Kalan, accused the ruling BJP of playing "divisive politics" and said that "sadbhav" (harmony) has come under stress in the last decade.
Brijendra Singh was a sitting MP from Hisar for the BJP when he resigned ahead of the 2024 general election and switched over to the Congress. He also alleged that the saffron party creates a wedge in society to achieve its political purpose.
The 'padyatra' has so far covered 85 assembly constituencies in Haryana, traversing more than 2,700 kilometres.
Addressing the public gathering, Brijendra Singh said the yatra is inspired by Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, where he took the party's vision and values directly to the people of the country.
Singh said the yatra has highlighted issues like "Vote Chori" (vote theft), unemployment, poor law and order situation, agrarian distress, and issues related to government employees, labourers and traders.
"Sadbhav (harmony) and bhaichara (brotherhood), which the BJP is attempting to weaken, are the messages of this yatra," he said, adding that its slogan is "Congress ka haath bhaichara ka saath".
"This yatra is a natural extension of the Bharat Jodo Yatra," Brijendra Singh said.
