Kolkata, April 30: Kolkata has a history of negligence-prompted major fire mishaps in important buildings, which have claimed several lives, and in the latest that happened in the six-storey hotel at Madan Mohan Burman Street, 14 people were killed.
The common factors in such fire mishaps were gross negligence, illegal constructions, lack of adequate fire safety measures, and negligence on the part of the competent authorities in compelling the building authorities to adopt adequate safety measures.
The deadliest such fire mishap was on December 9, 2011, when a devastating blaze broke out during the early hours at the private AMRI Hospital at Dhakuria in South Kolkata, taking a toll of 89 lives.
The fire was caused by a short circuit and was aided by the illegal storage of flammable material in the basement of the hospital. The police administration took in custody several directors of the hospital on charges of negligence.
On March 23, 2010, during the previous Left Front regime with Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, as then Chief Minister, a major fire broke out at Stephen Court Building at Park Street in Central Kolkata, which housed several important offices.
A total of 43 people died because of the fire, with many of them being killed after they jumped off the floor of the building in panic and in a desperate attempt to escape the fire. A probe by the government into this incident revealed that the illegal construction of two floors and the lack of adequate fire-fighting equipment were major factors that contributed to the blaze getting out of control.
On February 27, 2013, a total of 19 people were killed following a devastating fire at a five-storey market complex at Surya Sen Street in central Kolkata. Later probe revealed that the market was operating from the building illegally and even without a fire licence. Most of the people who were killed in the accident were shopkeepers and labourers who stayed overnight in the market.
On March 8, 2021, as many as nine people were killed in a devastating fire at a building on Strand Road in central Kolkata during the busy afternoon hours. Most of the people killed in the fire were firemen, who died during the firefighting exercise. The said building housed an office and a booking counter of the railway department. In that event also serious complaints about the lack of fire safety measures at the building surfaced.
IANS