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Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari suspends construction work till July 31, orders audit of all ongoing projects
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In the wake of the collapse of a warehouse in Kolkata’s Taratala area, killing at least five labourers, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday ordered the suspension of all under-construction commercial projects in Kolkata till July 31. Soon after visiting the site of the under-construction warehouse collapse, the chief minister said that the building plan sanctioned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was faulty and announced a citywide audit and on-site inspections of all under-construction projects.Addressing a press conference at Nabanna, the state secretariat, Adhikari said the building plan was sanctioned by the KMC on January 17, 2026, in the name of Shambhunath Behera, a partner of Behera Brothers. In a statement, the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority said it had granted a 30-year lease to M/s Behera Brothers with effect from August 1, 2024, for approximately 6,689 square metres of land to set up a multi-storied warehouse and cold storage facility. “I have spoken with officials and engineers of the KMC. Initially, we found that a faulty building plan was sanctioned. This was before we came to power,” Adhikari said, referring to the TMC rule in the civic body. After the BJP came to power in the state last month, TMC leader Firhad Hakim resigned from the post of Mayor. The government has appointed an IAS officer as KMC administrator. “Maybe they paid some bribe money and got the plan sanctioned. I have sought a detailed report on the issue. Tomorrow, in the state Assembly, I will give a statement on action against such practices and compensation to the victims,” the chief minister added.Story continues below this ad “Keeping such anomalies in mind, we have ordered that all under-construction buildings in the KMC area, especially commercial ones, will stop work till July 31,” he said. According to Adhikari, teams from the Public Works Department, KMC, Civil Defence, and Fire Services will hold a special audit of under-construction projects. This will include verification of approved building plans and on-site inspections. “There will be special verification of building plans and on-site inspection of all such buildings. We will also request the metro and port to allow us to do so in their areas,” the CM said. The chief minister also praised the response of the Kolkata police, army, and other agencies involved in the rescue operation. “Kolkata Police, Fire Services, the Army, and NDRF responded very quickly. Rescue operations are continuing, and we hope everyone trapped can be brought out safely,” he said.Story continues below this ad Adhikari said the Army was called in after the scale of the collapse became clear. “After speaking to the Chief Secretary around 2.30 pm and assessing the gravity of the situation, we requested the Army to step in. By 3.15 pm, Army teams had joined the rescue operation. They had equipment capable of cutting through iron beams and concrete,” he said. He added that 20 ambulances had been deployed, and Kolkata police made a free channel to send the injured to SSKM hospital without delay. The chief minister said that, based on his preliminary assessment, neither heavy rainfall nor soil conditions appeared to have caused the collapse. “I am not an engineer, but what I saw at the site suggests that the structure did not collapse because of yesterday’s rain or soft soil. Had that been the reason, the structure would have bent before collapsing,” he said. Ravik Bhattacharya is a highly experienced and award-winning journalist currently serving as the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, Ravik possesses deep expertise across a wide range of critical subjects and geographical areas. Experience & Authority Current Role: Chief of Bureau, The Indian Express, Kolkata. Expertise: Extensive reporting across West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and the Andaman Nicobar Islands.
Presenting the new BJP-led West Bengal government’s first Budget in the state Assembly Monday, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta announced a total allocation of Rs 4.39 lakh crore for 2026-27, giving impetus to social welfare while looking to boost infrastructure and industrial sector.Dasgupta also tried to improve the state’s fiscal health, proposing to reduce revenue deficit by over Rs 19,000 crore amid a sharp spike in central assistance.Unveiling his Budget proposals in the House, the Finance Minister said, “Our government has inherited a massive debt of Rs 8,15,891 crore as a legacy. This is potentially a crippling debt. However, with the support of the Government of India and fiscal reforms, we will try to put it on a sustainable path.” One of the key themes of the Budget, invoked repeatedly by Dagupta during his speech, was the advent of a “double engine government” in the state after the BJP’s resounding victory in the Assembly polls last year, which ended the 15-year rule of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. According to a financial statement of the BJP government, the state Budget had estimated the central government’s grants-in-aid of Rs 37157.57 crore for the financial year 2025-26, which was revised downward to Rs 22,068.85 crore. However, in the estimation of the current Budget, the central grants-in-aid jumps by about Rs 49,325 crore to Rs 71,393.19 crore for 2026-27. A senior finance department official said, “The Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government is not only going to get funds from the Centre for VB-G RAM-G scheme, but also for PMAY-G and gramin road projects. The previous TMC government had not accepted central schemes like Ayushman Bharat or PM-Kisan. Instead, it had started its own schemes with funds from the state government’s exchequer. Now, in all such schemes, the Central government would give full financial assistance or clear its entire share promptly.” Dasgupta proposed to reduce the revenue deficit to Rs 21,984 crore in 2026-27, which was Rs 41,164 crore in the revised Budget of the Mamata government last year. In the 2025-26 Budget estimates, this figure stood at Rs 35,314 crore. However, one of the major economic challenges facing the Adhikari government is the public debt. While noting the massive “legacy debt” of Rs 8,15,891 crore left by the previous government, it has also proposed to raise market loans to the tune of Rs 80,444.55 crore in 2026-27. which may take the state’s debt to about 9 lakh crore. Highlighting the 2026-27 Budget, a state government’s statement said, “For the first time in years, all three headline fiscal ratios of West Bengal decline simultaneously in a single budget. The revenue deficit falls from 2.07% to 1.02% of GSDP – a reduction of more than 1 percentage point in one year. The fiscal deficit is held at 2.91% of GSDP (down from 3.40%), comfortably within the FRBM 3% ceiling. The debt-to-GSDP ratio eases from 38.29% to 37.98% – the first downward movement in years.” The statement also claims,”These are not aspirational targets: they are projections embedded in 2026-27 Budget. The revenue deficit improvement reflects both the sharp rise in Central transfers now flowing to the state and rationalisation of revenue expenditure. Together, they signal that the structural repair of West Bengal’s public finances – inherited in distress – has moved from intent to arithmetic.”
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