Traders to bring out affected articles from inside their shops from today

Kolkata: The work for vacating the articles stacked inside the affected shops at Bagree Market will begin from Tuesday. The decision was taken during a high-level meeting at the headquarters of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) that was chaired by Mayor Sovan Chatterjee. Senior officials of Kolkata Police, CESC, the traders' association and other stakeholders were present.

Experts from IIT Roorkee who have been roped in for recommending the fate of the market urged the state to make arrangements for vacating the affected portions at the earliest to rule out chances of caving-in. The market has been subjected to prolonged exposure to extreme heat as fire continued for many hours and hence, chances of the structure collapsing cannot be ruled out.

A source in the KMC said that work for emptying the affected shops could have been done earlier but the affected traders, on compassionate grounds, were given a certain period of time during the festive season to concentrate on their business activities.

"The space in the corridor and the staircase have already been vacated. But a number of shops still have articles crammed inside them. The job for emptying these shops will start from Tuesday and it will be carried out by the traders themselves. "Officials and vehicles from the Solid Waste Management (SWM) department will be present for disposing of the things that will be brought out by the traders," a senior official of the KMC said.

CESC will make arrangements for temporary electric connection to facilitate the traders and Burrabazar police station will deploy forces for smooth work. After the affected portion is completely vacated, the team from IIT Roorkee will survey it again in detail and accordingly make recommendations on its fate.