Poor firefighting facilities allowed inferno to spread

Kolkata: With the firefighters battling the blaze at Bagree Market for the past 40 hours, the Group of Ministers (GoM) has sought the final report in connection with the incident within Wednesday.

This comes at a time when the preliminary reports of the police and the fire department to the GoM have pointed out that inadequate firefighting arrangement in the six-storeyed building was one of the reasons for which the blaze spread so fast and engulfed all the floors of the building situated in such a congested area as that of Canning Street.

The GoM and senior officials held a high-level meeting at Nabanna on Monday in connection with the fire. It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had set up the GoM to take necessary steps in case of an emergency situation in the state while she would be away on tour.

Reacting sharply on the attitude of the traders who had converted Bagree Market into a tinderbox, the Chief Minister, who is in Frankfurt, said: "They are not traders but hooligans. I have respect for traders. But those in Bagree Market have sold the toilet and even the staircase spaces. Go to the area and they keep wares on the streets making traffic movement impossible. We always help the traders and do not intervene in their businesses but it will not be tolerated if they try to take us for a ride."

Sources said that the matter related to the defunct electric pump for which the water reservoir turned dry also cropped up at the meeting. As a result, sprinklers were of no use despite being there. The issue related to the trade licence of the businessmen, who have shops in the building, was also discussed.

Firhad Hakim, the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister, visited the spot on Monday morning.

Locals claimed that each of the traders of Bagree Market had given thousands of rupees to Bagree Estates Private Limited (BEPL) to ensure better firefighting arrangement in the building. They also demanded necessary steps against BEPL's Radha Bagree as the firefighting arrangement didn't work on Sunday and goods worth crores were damaged.

It may be mentioned that the role of the state government officials who had visited the market earlier for inspection, is also under scanner. Questions have been raised as to how did this tinderbox-like condition of the building not come to the notice of the officials.

Both police and fire department officials will be submitting another report in this connection to the GoM on Wednesday when the ministers will meet for another meeting. Necessary legal steps would be taken based on the reports and "no one will be spared if negligence is found on their part".