278 Kolkata markets lack fire safety measures

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the fire brigade have found 278 markets and mercantile buildings in the city that lack fire safety measures, Mayor Sobhan Chatterjee said here today.
Following the fire accident at Surya Sen Market in Sealdah area on February 27 that left 21 people, the KMC and fire brigade had done a survey and found 278 buildings in 12 boroughs where fire safety measures were inadequate.
In the remaining three boroughs, the survey would be completed by March 18, Chatterjee said after a high level meeting attended by officials of the city police, fire brigade, power utility CESC, and KMC.

A policy decision would be taken on March 25 issuing trade licence to those holding spaces in those buildings, the mayor said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on March 10 had given traders and the business community 15 days to take measures against fire.
She had asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the police, the fire brigade and the disaster management department to sit with traders to chalk out measures to prevent fires in markets.
The mayor said a team would visit the burnt Surya Sen Market on Friday to take a decision on reopening the market.