There were no casualties, but several important research materials, documents and computers were wrecked.
The chemistry laboratory of Kolkata’s Presidency University (formerly Presidency College) was badly damaged in a fire early on Friday. There were no casualties, but several important research materials, documents and computers were wrecked.
A leaking wire in a refrigerator kept in the laboratory is suspected to have caused the fire. The presence of highly-inflammable chemicals helped spread the flames quickly. Shockingly, the University does not have fire security measures.
The fire broke out around 4 am on Friday and it was first noticed by security personnel, who immediately informed the fire department. Eleven fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot and managed to douse the flames after three hours. However, by that time, the entire laboratory had been severely damaged and all documents had been destroyed. The chemistry laboratory, located in the famous Derozio building, is considered one of the best in India because of its research faculty.
The institution was also in the limelight during the sixties and seventies, when the Naxalite movement caught the fancy of Bengal’s youth. Many great minds from the science and humanities streams of the great institution, such as Asim Chatterjee, joined the movement. In fact, the chemistry laboratory was under police scanner as a bomb-making hub.
A few months back, the West Bengal assembly had passed a bill giving the 193-year-old college the status of a university. Founded in 1817 as Hindu College, Presidency College has been a pride of Kolkata. In 1886 the college introduced postgraduate teaching in chemistry for the first time. In 1889, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, an alumnus, joined the college after returning from Edinburgh and paved the way for active and devoted researches in chemistry.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Oscar-winning Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, India’s first president, Rajendra Prasad, CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu, scientist Satyendranath Bose and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, are among its illustrious alumni. State chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy are ex-students as well.
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