Experts to decide stability of 'weak' Bagree Market

Kolkata: The state government has decided to consult experts to assess the "strength" of the six-storeyed Bagree Market building considering that it might have turned "weak" with the devastating fire continuing to burn inside it for the past 60 hours.

This comes a day after the Group of Ministers (GoM) held a meeting at Nabanna and a committee has been set up to probe the incident.

Sources said that the necessity to assess the condition of the building has been felt considering two basic aspects. Firstly, it is a 55-year-old building and secondly it could have become "weak" with the recent incident of fire.

It is learnt that the step to engage experts have been taken considering that the structural engineers can ascertain whether there is any need to pull down the building or any particular portion of the same. A senior official said it would lead to another disaster if any portion of the building collapses later. The structure is situated at Canning Street which is extremely narrow and congested, especially on weekdays and would claim lives if any portion of the building collapses all of a sudden. "So, as a precautionary measure, the assessment will be carried out to ensure security of the people," the official said.

The police have also been directed to find out the authorities of Bagree Estates Private Limited. An FIR was also lodged against the directors of BEPL – Radha Bagree and Varun Raj Bagree — and also against its Chief Executive Officer, Krishna Kumar Kothari.

The official maintained that the report of the experts is quite crucial as subsequent steps need to be taken if they suggest to bring down the building or some of its portion.

The six-storeyed Bagree Market at 71, Canning Street, where the fire broke out in the wee hours on Sunday, houses around 900 shops, godowns and offices. So the issue of rehabilitating some of the traders to some other location could also crop up if decision is taken to bring down the building or any of its portions. In that case, the state government will be extending necessary support as much as possible for the sake of the people.

It may be mentioned that the devastating fire led to loss of crores of rupees. So the state government is all set to take precautionary measures to avert such incidents in future.