3 min readKolkataUpdated: Jun 27, 2026 06:41 AM IST
After ordering the suspension of all under-construction commercial projects in Kolkata till July 31 in the wake of the death of at least 15 labourers in a warehouse collapse in Kolkata’s Tartala area, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday expanded the scope of the special audit of buildings by including six-storey or G+5 structures.
He also extended the area of the audit. Instead of only Kolkata, the special audit by the high-level committee will now include Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas.
“All G+5 residential or commercial buildings and above will be considered a high-rise. The committee, headed by senior officer Rajesh Pandey and comprising officials from various departments along with experts from RITES and IIT Kharagpur, will begin implementing the audit of all high-rise residential and commercial buildings,” the chief minister said after chairing a meeting of the Urban Development Department.
The chief minister said the special audit will cover the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area, Rajarhat-Newtown, including the NKDA area under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, Pujali, Budge Budge, Maheshtala, Rajpur-Sonarpur, Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district, and South Dumdum, Kamarhati, Baranagar in North 24 Parganas district. The committee will also survey the building plans of the Howrah and Bally municipal areas along the Hooghly river.
According to Adhikari, every project examined by the committee will fall into one of three categories — rejection, rectification, or clearance.
“One list will be rejection; buildings that have gross violations. Second is rectification; buildings that have some problems and can be rectified. After the rectification of the building plan, they will be given permission to go ahead with construction work. And in the third category will be those buildings that have proper permission and plan,” the chief minister added.
Adhikari clarified that the suspension on construction work was not a blanket ban till July 31.
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“Everyone does not have to wait till July 31. As and when a ward or project is examined and found satisfactory, clearance will be issued, and work can begin. Our objective is not to halt urban development but to ensure public safety,” he said, adding that the state government and the Central government’s buildings, schools, and hospitals will be excluded from the special audit.
Adhikari said the special committee, led by Rajesh Pandey, has also been assigned the additional responsibility to complete within 90 days — a comprehensive audit of fire safety systems and lightning arresters in high-rise residential and commercial buildings across the state. He said that water bodies will also be inspected.
Describing the exercise as “essential”, he said recent tragedies had exposed serious shortcomings in building safety. “The Tiljala fire was linked to deficiencies in fire safety arrangements, equipment, and fire licences, resulting in loss of life. Several such incidents have occurred. In Garden Reach, there was no approved building plan, while in Tartala, there were serious deficiencies,” the chief minister added.
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