Ahead of Durga Puja, Bagree Market traders stare at gloom as fire guts biz

Loss could be between Rs 2-5 billion; 3,000 people, employed by these traders, fear loss of livelihood

Over 500 traders in the congested Bagree Market in the Burrabazar area in Kolkata, which was gutted by fire early morning on Sunday, are staring at a loss anywhere between Rs 2-5 billion. Some 3,000 people, employed by these traders, also fear loss of livelihood, even as West Bengal heads towards celebrating its biggest annual festivity, Durga Puja.

Part of the state’s key wholesale and retail hub, the Bagree Market housed between 700-1,000 registered and unregistered shops across its five floors. A fire broke out early in the morning of September 16 and spread rapidly. While over 30 fire tenders were pressed into action to contain the flames with two firemen sustaining minor injuries during the rescue operation. However, the damage was already done. 

Twenty-four hours after the incident, the flames are yet to be fully doused. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, before leaving for her tour of Italy and Germany, stated that there weren’t any casualties.

According to Mahesh Singhania, chairman, West Bengal Federation of Trade Association, it is hard to assess to the extent of damage, as during this time, when people are on a shopping spree to celebrate Durga Puja, traders traditionally build massive stocks to attract customers.

“However, I think it will be a minimum of Rs 2-3 billion”, Singhania said. 

Some sources suggested that the estimated loss of stocked goods can mount to Rs 5 billion as the inventory is not entirely reported by the traders to tax and customs officials. 

“It is a general practice not just here but across the country. Since the entire inventory is not reported by the traders, the actual loss can be much greater than even the initial estimate,” the sources said.

Rajesh Bhatia, general secretary of the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations estimated that over 2,000 people have been employed by the traders in this fateful building who risk losing their livelihood. Moreover, casual and other labourers like porters also depend on this market for their daily bread.

“If the building cannot be restored speedily, not only will the traders lose business when West Bengal is on a shopping spree, the store employees will also lose their jobs and their families will be eventually be affected”, Bhatia said.

It is estimated that the Bagree Market does around Rs 900-1,000 million worth of business every month and during the festive season, sales jump by over 60 per cent in this market. Not only people from Kolkata and its surroundings, but also from other districts come to the Burrabazar area to complete their shopping list for the festive season. This is because this zone offers the lowest prices and a wide range of economy products.

Apart from the economic loses, traders also fear defaulting on their income tax and GST return filings. Although the last extended date for filing income tax returns is past, many traders weren’t able to do so on time. Besides, September 20 is the last date for filing the consolidated GST return, and a default here may hit cash flow.

“We have sent letters to both the Central and state governments asking to show some leniency over filing tax returns. All the papers, needed to file these returns, have been consumed by the flames and without these papers, it is not possible to file the tax returns,” Singhania said.

Although the cause of fire is being investigated, a blame-game has already ensued. Political parties like the BJP have demanded an independent enquiry into the incident while not ruling out sabotage and malafide intentions. Sovan Chatterjee, the state’s fire minister, who is also the city’s mayor, hinted at lack of firefighting equipment and safety norms in the building. 

“We have been asking traders and businessmen time and again to install adequate fire fighting systems in buildings. Had they listened to us, this could have been avoided”, Chatterjee said.

On the other hand, traders have pointed that around three years back, a fund was raised to put a proper fire fighting mechanism in place. 

“Every trader contributed between Rs 30-40 per square feet of rented area to create this fund. An overhead water tank was built and pipes carrying that water across the building were also constructed to take care of any outbreak of fire. However, there isn’t any water available in these pipes,” Bhatia said.

Traders, in turn, have put the onus on the holder of Bagree Market. This 60-year old building marketplace, one of the largest in Asia, is under the Bagree Estate Private Limited, in which Radha Bagree and Varun Raj Bagree are directors.