Fire ravages 141-year-old market in Kolkata

Kolkata: A major fire on Monday ravaged a large section of the 141-year-old New Market, also known as S.S. Hogg Market, located in central Kolkata.

Smoke was first noticed bellowing out around noon local time from the section that houses the fish and vegetable market as shopkeepers rushed to douse the fire. However, the fire spread rapidly and the whole area was engulfed in thick smoke. Twenty fire engines responded and firefighters had to brave the intense heat for three-hours to control the fire. As per initial reports, more than 100 shops have been gutted but no casualties were reported.

Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee also came to assess the situation as shopkeepers started complaining of the delay in arrival of the firefighters.

“The fire station is minutes away but still they took more than an hour to reach the spot,” said Irfan Malik, a shopkeeper.

Fire department officials denied the allegations and blamed the market authorities for not following fire safety measures.

“We were here within minutes. However, it was a massive fire and it took us more than two-hours to bring in under control. Still there are pocket fires and we are trying to douse the same,” said an officer.

“The market did not even have basic fire fighting measures and the electrical wiring are years old and short-circuit is probably the cause of the fire. Also there are illegal construction within the market which had made our job very difficult,” the official added.

However, Kolkata’s mayor had few answers when questioned about the lack of safety in one of the major markets in the city which is under its preview and hundred yards away from the headquarters of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Shopkeepers inform that there is hardly any maintenance and many shopkeepers have flouted all rules to increase their floor space as per convenience. “The whole place is like keg waiting to go up in flames. No one is following the rules and the authorities have done nothing to implement them. The electrical wiring are all tangled and can even electrocute shoppers,” said the owner of a famous bakery inside the market.

This comes within a month of a major fire breaking out inside a shopping complex in the New Market area, which was thrown open by the British in 1874. On April 26, a fire destroyed a clothes market building just next to New Market. As many as 27 fire tenders and sky ladders were used from morning to dusk to douse the flames.

However, this is not the first time, that this age-old market has witnessed such a major fire. On December 13, 1985, large parts of New Market were destroyed by a devastating fire that brought down a part of the heritage structure. Parts of the market were then rebuilt. In July 20, 2011, another fire damaged part of New Market.

“Unless the corporation undertakes a major renovation of the whole complex such incidents will happen and we will lose business and goods worth thousands. We had been pleading with them for years but nothing has happened,” said Kamal Husain, a shopkeeper.