Kolkata: Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said on Thursday that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will impose restrictions on all markets in the city, to ensure that there is no encroachment on the entry and exit points, as well as within the market premises. The move has been made to ensure smooth evacuation in case of an accidental fire. This comes in wake of the fire incident at Bagree Market on September 16.
"We are imposing rules for every market in the city- those owned by KMC as well as the private ones which need the trade licence of the civic body for functioning. There should be no encroachment inside the market premises and the entry and exit points should be clear," Chatterjee said at the monthly meeting of KMC, in response to a proposal from some Opposition councillors to revamp the fire safety mechanism at the municipal markets in the city, in wake of the Bagree fire.
The Mayor said that a technical committee has been constituted with engineers from IIT Kharagpur, Roorkee and KMC, for a detailed survey of the market. "They will recommend how much of the market will be kept intact, what portion will be pulled down and how further construction can be taken up. We will be strictly adhering to the measures suggested by the committee regarding the market," he added.
It may be mentioned that the market department has already given certain directions to the markets maintained by the civic body to curb incidents of fire. "No one will be allowed to light fire for cooking or similar activities inside the market premises. No one will be allowed to stay inside the market during the night. The sale of inflammable articles should be minimum and every shop will have basic fire safety measures in place," Chatterjee said.
Chatterjee, who is also the minister for Fire Services, lauded the efforts of fire officers and Kolkata Police who had risked their lives to keep the damage of the market to a minimum. "The market had 1,000 shops. We have been able to save 75 percent of the shops," he maintained.