Abhishek Banerjee’s Kolkata office building ordered to vacate floors over fire safety lapses

The West Bengal Fire Department on Friday ordered the evacuation of the basement and sixth and seventh floors of a high-rise building in central Kolkata that houses the office of Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, citing a lack of adequate fire safety measures, according to a report by news agency PTI.

The action came a day after Banerjee’s Camac Street office was ransacked, with the TMC blaming men linked to the BJP for the attack. The BJP has denied the allegation.

The same building was at the centre of another controversy last week when authorities removed an “illegal” TMC billboard. Private security guards at Banerjee’s office, his supporters and some party leaders had clashed with police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials during the removal.

According to PTI, the fire department found no fire safety measures in the building’s basement during an inspection. It subsequently issued a show-cause notice to the building owner, giving them 48 hours to respond.

“Since we did not get any response and the deadline passed, we sent them a notice to evacuate the basement, sixth and seventh floors of the building. If the basement of any building has no fire safety measures, it could lead to a big disaster in case of a fire,” a fire department official told PTI.

The official said the fire safety certificate for the premises had expired on August 10 and had not been renewed.

In its notice to the building owner, the department said the basement, sixth and seventh floors would remain prohibited from use until the deficiencies were rectified and a valid fire safety certificate obtained.

A joint team of police and fire officials conducted a floor-by-floor inspection of the building on Monday. The inspection found inadequate firefighting arrangements on the seventh floor, no designated fire exit and issues with the fire alarm system, according to the notice.

(With PTI inputs)