After a major incident of fire in a residential-cum-commercial apartment situated in a congested area behind Burrabazar police station on Monday night, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that each and every building in the city has to comply with the standard fire-safety norms for the well being of its residents.
Within a few hours of the Burrabazar fire on Monday night, the Chief Minister expressed her concern over the non-existence of firefighting arrangements, mainly in the decade-old buildings of the city.
Stressing upon the necessity of creating awareness among people about the necessity of firefighting measures in buildings, she directed the state Fire minister and Mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who held a meeting with the Chief Minister in the state secretariat on Tuesday, to take necessary steps to ensure that firefighting arrangements are made in every building following the standard fire-safety norms. She also urged to create awareness among people.
She urged everyone to follow the guidelines of the civic bodies and the state Fire and Emergency Services department.
Expressing her concern over the poor conditions of the old buildings, she said that there are many buildings which need immediate repairing but it has not been done despite repeated notices by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
In many cases, repairing has not been undertaken due to legal tussles between landlords and the tenants.
She urged these people to solve the existing problems and to repair their houses. If needed, she said that they could also take assistance of the corporation to solve the existing problems of initiating the required repair works.
The Burrabazar fire has once again painted the real picture of "non-existence" of firefighting measures in many buildings, whether residential or commercial, in the city.
After visiting the spot, the Mayor had pointed out on Monday night, that there were no firefighting arrangements in the building at Burrabazar. As a result, the fire spread fast and firefighters found themselves in a helpless situation as it was not possible to take fire tenders to the spot due to the building being situated in a narrow and congested lane.