Date:15/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/15/stories/2008011555600100.htm

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Burrabazaar fire still raging in Kolkata

Special Correspondent

Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury.

RAGING INFERNO: The fire at the Nandaram Market complex in Kolkata which broke out in the wee hours of Saturday is still out of control on Monday.

KOLKATA: Firemen, including those from the Army, continued their battle for the third day on Monday against the devastating fire that broke out in the trade hub of Burrabazaar here at around 1 a.m. on Saturday.

The blaze spread to the upper levels of the 14-storeyed Nandaram Market complex, portions of which have developed cracks with the building having tilted slightly to its left.

The building was unauthorised and as its plan was not available, fire-fighters were finding it difficult to negotiate the narrow corridors and shops full of inflammable material, the State’s Minister for Fire Services, Pratim Chatterjee, said.

A special hydraulic ladder was requisitioned from the Haldia Petrochemicals Project to enable the fire-fighters reach the upper storeys. Sky-lifts have been pressed into service.

Chopper plan shelved

An earlier plan to use a helicopter to transport fire-fighters to the upper floors was shelved after experts pointed out that the gusts of wind caused by it might fan the flames, Mr. Chatterjee said.

Thick smoke continued to billow from the building even as the flames spread to an adjoining complex. Residents, enraged over the delay in extinguishing the fire, turned their ire on newspersons covering the incident and also damaged vans belonging to the electronic media.

The State leadership of the Congress has demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the accident.

A team belonging to the Rajasthan government visited the site and demanded that the State government advance soft loans and provide temporary shelters to the affected traders.

Nearly 2,000 shops and godowns have been destroyed in the fire.