Kolkata
Mangled wires, buildings falling apart, unprotected wires outside dilapidated buildings, flying plastic sheets, wooden floors, narrow approach roads, and unregulated AC installations showed poor fire safety preparation in many old Kolkata buildings.
A firefighter from Kolkata who wanted to stay anonymous said, “More than 70% of Kolkata buildings are not fire safe. They have narrow stairs, unlicensed storage areas, illegal tin roofs, closed terrace areas, all of them add to the rising fire incidents in the city.” He also mentioned that even after repeated notices and appeals most of the old buildings do nothing to establish fire safety measures.
The Mehta building, a major landmark in the Burrabazaar area of Kolkata caught fire on June 25 at around 4.30 p.m. This building lies on the congested Canning Street in the Burrabazaar area where cars run bumper to bumper, vans clog the roads, and hawkers block most of the pavements. This makes fire engine access to this road a major issue during emergencies.
The Mehta building has had two major fires in the last two decades, one in 2008 and another in 2018. They have gotten many warnings and multiple notices, but things have failed to improve. Tangled wires on electric posts lie unattended across Canning Street and the locals conduct their business right below these wires staying blissfully unaware of the fire hazard they live with every day.
Electrical wires hanging out of a building at Rabindra Sarani, Terreti Bazaar. This is one of the many such buildings in the area which follow no fire safety protocols.
| Photo Credit:
Debasish Bhaduri
Ten fire engines were rushed to the spot to douse the fire. No casualties have been reported. Mehta building is a wholesale market of medicines and chemicals. Locals feared that this could lead to the fire spreading quickly.
Another grim picture is witnessed at most of the commercial and high-rise residential buildings in the Terreti Bazaar area, Rabindra Sarani, Central Kolkata area. These buildings have no fire extinguishing cylinders, water sprinklers, fire alarms, or even a basic emergency evacuation plan in place.
A fire safety professional who has been in the business since 1989 and wanted to stay anonymous said, “North/Central Kolkata buildings have extremely low rent. Tenants do not pay money to owners; how will the owners ever install fire safety systems?”
“Both old and new buildings cut corners to save money and get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to function from the fire department,” he claimed. “Building owners make deals with lower-rung fire department officials and get a NOC without following any safety protocols. Forget fire exits, smoke alarms, and sprinklers, some buildings do not even have one fire extinguisher cylinder on site,” he added.
Calls to the Minister of Fire and Emergency Services and DG remained unanswered, and no comment was received on irregularities in the fire department issuing NOCs.
Garstin Place fire blaze on June 22, early morning at around 5 a.m.
| Photo Credit:
Debasish Bhaduri
On June 22, a major fire broke out at 5, Garstin Place, B.B.D. Bag area, Central Kolkata in an old residential building at 4 a.m. There were no casualties, but it raised many questions about illegal storage areas and unapproved constructions in such buildings. The top floor of the building was being used to store chemicals, and the mezzanine floors were divided by false ceilings and were being illegally rented out.
Even on June 25 afternoon, firefighting teams were on-site at Garstin Place for the post-fire dampening work. The fire was doused on June 22 in the morning itself, but the whole place smelled of smoke and pungent chemicals after four days. The adjacent buildings had major fire issues in 2012, 2018, and now in 2024 but no measures have been taken to make things better.
Chowringhee Road buildings in the Esplanade area, Kolkata also lie in a similar state. The pavements below the buildings have hawkers in every nook and cranny with plastic sheets flying above their stalls. When enquired about fire safety protocols, a sunglass vendor below a crumbling building said, “I do not know any of that. It’s all the same for us.”
The plastic sheets above these makeshift stalls are one spark away from catching fire and bringing the whole place down. Within the same congestion also lies food stalls and tea shops which have their open fires which adds to the crisis.
A roadside shop owner in the Esplanade area said, “We do not have any other option but to tie these plastic sheets above our shops, I know it is risky. Otherwise, the sun and rain affect our shops. Where will we go?”
Even newer buildings faced major fire incidents in Kolkata in the past month. Two major fires broke out in a Park Street eatery and at the Acropolis Mall in Kasba. In both cases, the commercial spaces lacked many fire safety measurements. The Park Street eatery had an illegal rooftop construction. On the other hand, the Acropolis Mall building had construction material stacked in most of their staircases which slowed down the evacuation process.
Many of the old Kolkata buildings were constructed decades ago and they do not have the necessary infrastructure to install multiple AC lines. Firefighters said that these old power lines collapse and cannot take so much added load from the AC installations. These old buildings have narrow staircases which makes evacuation hard.
Some of the buildings, like 2, Chowringhee Road, the building right beside the famous Chowringhee Hotel, also have wooden staircases which are in dire need of maintenance. These wooden constructions also become a hotspot for fire spreading and bring down old buildings in no time in case of fire outbreak.
Four major fires have erupted in the heart of Kolkata within a span of 14 days. This has raised some serious concerns about the fire safety regulations in city buildings and their adjacent congested market areas.