The collapse of the plaster and roof of the dilapidated building of the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Paikgachha, Khulna, has caused intense panic among judges, lawyers, police and litigants. The building has now become a death trap due to lack of any major renovation and maintenance for a long time.
In continuation of this, a large part of the old roof of the CSI office room of the court suddenly collapsed with a loud noise late on Wednesday (September 2). Although it was possible to avoid major loss of life or casualties due to the late night, there has been intense dissatisfaction and concern about this. According to those concerned, if this accident had happened during the day during the court or office hours, the general public, including officials and employees, who came to seek services, would have been victims of a major and fatal accident. For the past two years, tents have been erected under the roof of the courtroom of this risky building to conduct trial proceedings and store highly sensitive case documents.
The Senior Judicial Magistrate Court and Senior Assistant Judge Chowki Court were established in Paikgachha, about 66 kilometers from Khulna district headquarters, in 1983 at the initiative of the then government. Even after four decades of its establishment, the traditional building has not been renovated or modernized. As a result, large cracks have appeared in various pillars and walls of the building and various parts of the roof have become weak.
Local activists and those involved in the court premises have alleged that the entire building could collapse at any moment, causing major loss of life. Therefore, they have demanded that this risky building be renovated or a new modern building be constructed immediately to ensure the overall safety of judges, officials, employees, lawyers, policemen, and litigants coming from far and wide.
Pikgachha Court CSI Md. Tariqul Islam confirmed the truth of the roof collapse incident and said that major damage was avoided as the accident occurred late at night. Otherwise, it would have created a risky situation where it would have fallen directly on his head.