De-ja-vu in Kolkata: Surya Sen fire reminiscent of AMRI tragedy

A fire in the dead of night. Trapped people asphyxiated in the smoke. Inadequate fire fighting measures in the building. Permits missing. It sounds like déjà vu in Kolkata. The fire at the Surya Sen Market in the busy Sealdaha area of the city is bringing back memories of the devastating AMRI hospital fire. The death toll at the market is currently being put at 18 but 24 Ghonta news channel is saying it has gone up to 20 at least. At least 16 people had been burned to death in the same room. Some of the shops in the market are still shuttered and fire brigade personnel are trying to break into them to see if anyone was sleeping inside. [caption id=“attachment_641358” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PTI[/caption] However even before the smoke has cleared, the fire is already a political football in the city. The market which was in a congested area did not even have fire fighting equipment sources from the fire brigade complained. Many of the shops had large amounts of plastic and paper which went up in flames swiftly. Bystanders said many of the bodies that had come out were severely burned suggesting that asphyxiation was not the only cause of death. Javed Khan, the minister in charge of fire safety told news channels that the market was an “unauthorized illegal market.” “Many such buildings have come up during the 34 years of the Left Front government,” he said. He added that the Trinamool government had spent the last year and a half inspecting many schools, colleges, hospitals and made at least 100 arrests. They were ready to issue an FIR in the name of the owner of this market as well. But when asked if he could guarantee such unauthorized buildings were not coming up under the Trinamool, the minister said quickly that was not under his purview. Asked if any notice had been given to this market, he said that was not his job, but the Calcutta Corporation’s. The leader of the opposition Surya Kanta Mishra was quick to dismiss those charges. “We will ask for an independent inquiry,” he told media at the site. “This is not the time to go for blame game. If anyone has done that, they have done an irresponsible job.” In this city, however, it is always time for a blame game. The Mayor of the city Shovan Chatterjee said that it was “not desirable” for markets to come up in such congested areas. The news channel ABP Ananda says though the fire brigade responded quickly with 26 engines the area was so congested it could not get to the back of the market where the main fire was raging.