January
12, 2008 Thousands
Homeless
as Fire Guts Kolkata Markets
Kolkata
A huge fire raged through markets and buildings in congested
Burrabazar here Saturday morning destroying thousands of shops and
buildings, leaving thousands homeless and turning small traders into
paupers overnight. There was no casualty.
The inadequacy of the fire fighting system in this eastern
metropolis was laid bare, as the army, air force and the airport
authorities had to be called in to control the blaze.
It was not clear how the early morning fire began but electrical
short circuit was reported to be a possible cause. The flames spread
across the area engulfing buildings, burning markets. A thick
umbrella of noxious fumes covered the sky.
While the buildings burned, the traders and residents wailed as they
lost everything to the fire. Angry residents and traders said the
fire brigade men arrived late.
Burrabazar is the wholesale market area of Kolkata with clusters of
unplanned and unauthorized constructions. The fire spread fast,
fanned by a breeze and helped along by inflammables like plastics,
polythene and garments.
"At least eight buildings were engulfed in the fire and six have
been affected very badly. After Tripalpatti market (a wholesale
market of plastic tarpaulin), from where the fire possibly started
around 1.30 a.m., the adjacent Nandalaram market was gutted too,"
police said.
"No casualty was reported. We have been able to save lives," Kolkata
Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty said, as his detective
department started a probe with forensic experts to ascertain the
cause of the fire.
"In an old city like Kolkata, we perhaps cannot prevent this but
unlike in many such fire incidents in Mumbai, here we have been able
to save human lives," Chakraborty said.
The fire raged till Saturday evening, as 42 fire engines with the
firemen put up a fight with the help of their lone sophisticated
aerial ladder platform. A 15-storeyed building also caught fire.
Later the fire fighting equipment and engines at the disposal of the
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport, the army
and air force were asked for.
"The fire was tamed but not fully. We are trying our best but there
was initially a problem of availability of water which was later
solved," Chakraborty said.
"We have no report of any casualty. No one was trapped inside. We
ensured that," he said.
"The whole situation is sad. There is no disaster management system
in place here. If anything happens in the middle of night in Kolkata
there is hardly any infrastructure to mitigate it," said Trinamul
Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who rushed to the spot.
"Again mysteriously the fire occurred on a Saturday night. I am
clueless why all such fires in market areas occur on weekend nights.
Is there a plan behind it to evict people?" asked Banerjee, not
ruling out sabotage behind the incident.
West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi also reached the spot
while Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) mayor Bikash Ranjan
Bhattacharaya supervised the fire fighting for a while.
"People trading or living here never think of danger. There is no
arrangement of water while the fire brigade does not have ladders
tall enough," said Bhattacharya.
West Bengal Fire Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee said the
traders who had stored flammable articles illegally in the congested
area were responsible for the inferno.
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