Three days have passed since the five-storey building in Garden Reach collapses but the rescue team have not yet been able to clear the collapse site of all the rubble.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) ended its search operation on Wednesday evening and handed the site to the CMC for “further action”.
The death toll from the collapse remained 10.
Sources in the police said every possible effort had been made to look out for people trapped underneath. “Once the debris would be clear, if need be, the search operation can resume,” said an officer in the city police.
The intermittent rain on Wednesday delayed the rescue work despite multiple
agencies trying to remove the debris and looking for more victims trapped under the rubble.
No one was rescued on Wednesday. One person from the locality where the collapsed building stood — Azhar Molla Bagan — has been reported missing over the past two days.
Although many in the locality complained of a stench, no more bodies were recovered on Wednesday.
Teams from the NDRF, Disaster Management Group and the fire department, assisted by Calcutta Municipal Corporation personnel, had been working at the site since the collapse around Sunday midnight but the site
have not yet been able to remove all the debris.
The rescue effort had been slow because large concrete-removing machines and payloaders, which are a must for such operations, could not be deployed as
access the collapse site through narrow
work had been tough from the beginning as the rescue teams could neither use large earth removing dumpers nor the payloaders due to the narrow bylane on which the building is located.
A relatively small dumper that could be taken to the spot on Tuesday could not be used in the removal of the debris as there was not enough space for the vehicle to operate at the site.
On Wednesday, the NDRF personnel continued to use drilling machines to manually drill through the concrete slabs searching for signs of human beings trapped under them.
Officials of the NDRF said they used “victim location camera” - a machine fitted with a camera - that could take pictures of the hollow gaps between concrete slabs where the rescue teams cannot reach.
“The VLCs are useful to detect the presence of a trapped person so that we know the exact location where to dig. The photographs also give a clear picture of the condition of the trapped person,” said an NDRF official.
The camera is however operational only to see through the gaps.
“Places where we could not find any gaps, we have been depending mostly upon screams for help by the victims. But we have heard no sound from under the debris since Monday afternoon. The concrete slabs which are yet to be removed are being drilled from place to place on a trial and error basis,” said an officer posted at the site of the collapsed building.
