Kolkata: Fire at Bagree market yet to be doused after 57 hours

Even after 57 hours, since the fire broke out at Bagree market in Kolkata, authorities have not managed to douse the flame completely. Smoke continues to emanate from third, fourth and fifth floors of the building. A special team comprising personnel of Kolkata Police’s combat force and the Fire Services Department has started a fresh operation with better firefighting equipment on Tuesday.

Gas cutters are being used to cut through the shutters of shops on the third floor of C Block. Firefighters with advanced breathing apparatus and oxygen cylinders are trying to reach different pockets from where smoke is coming out. DG (fire services) Jag Mohan said that there was a possibility of pockets of fire remaining in the building which firefighters are trying to detect.

A high-level committee, led by state minister Partha Chatterjee, which had met at Nabanna to discuss the issue and submitted a preliminary report, will meet on Wednesday once again at the state secretariat.

In another development, after the Bagree Market fire, supply of medicines to local pharmacies is likely to be hit. Apart from the 300 pharma shops in Bagree which have been gutted, about 1000 wholesale pharma shops in Mehta Building, right opposite to Bagree Market, have been affected indirectly. “Besides the 300-odd shops that have been razed in the Bagree Market fire, others in the Mehta Building could not open because police have restricted movement and power of the area has been snapped for about two days now so medicines that needed to be stored under refrigeration would not be fit for use anymore. Many small, city-based shops depended upon these wholesale outlets for medicines and soon they will run out of stock,” said Pranab Kumar Chattopadhyay, state committee member of Pharmaceutical Traders Welfare Association of Bengal.