Kolkata fire tragedy: Eyewitness blames response delay for magnitude of tragedy

Kolkata: As the death toll in the fire at two warehouses in Anandapur on the southern outskirts of Kolkata rose to 21, the first eyewitness and the person who alerted the fire services said the tragedy could have been avoided if the state fire services department had acted promptly instead of losing time over jurisdictional protocol.

The eyewitness, Virendra Yadav, owns a cattle shed next to the Pushpanjali Decorators warehouse, where the fire first broke out before spreading to the adjacent warehouse of Wow Momo.

Yadav was the first to call the fire department after noticing the blaze. However, when he dialled 101, the call went to the district control room. Instead of dispatching help immediately, officials asked him to contact the Kolkata control room.

He then requested an acquaintance to call the Kolkata fire services control room. Fire engines reached the spot about half an hour later.

Yadav said he initially tried to douse the flames using his own pump. When that failed, he moved his cows and buffaloes to safety and fled. He recounted the incident to a section of the media on Thursday.

Virendra said, “Around 2.30 a.m. on Monday, I saw that a fire had broken out. I have a window in my kitchen. From that window, I saw the fire burning. I have a cattle shed. I was worried about what might happen to my cows and buffaloes. Out of that fear, I tried to put out the fire myself using water from a motor pump. But I could not. I tried to extinguish the fire because I have a cattle shed. I was trying to save the cows and buffaloes.”

He added, “I had called the fire service. They told me to call the Kolkata control room. This confusion about which jurisdiction these warehouses fell under cost some valuable time, which could have been saved if a prompt response had been given to the distress call.”

Local residents also expressed anger over State Fire Minister Sujit Bose reaching the site 32 hours after the blaze.

“Why did it take so long for the minister to arrive at the spot? This shows that there was a complete lapse in the administration’s response to the fire,” said a local resident.

The fire, which gutted two warehouses in Anandapur, has so far claimed 21 lives. Around 28 people are still missing, and search operations are continuing.

The police have arrested Gangadhar Das, the owner of the gutted Pushpanjali Decorators warehouse, on charges of causing death by negligence. He was produced before a court on Thursday and remanded to police custody till February 4.

Pushpanjali warehouse stood next to the Wow Momo unit, which was also destroyed in the blaze. Similar charges have been filed against the owners of the Momo company, but no arrests have been made so far.

Wow Momo said on Wednesday that three of its employees had died in the incident.

IANS