'Lack of building plan impeded rescue operations'

Kolkata, Mar 24: In a revelation that screams for better infrastructure, safety measures and monitoring in construction of buildings, police has said that the top two floors of the 150-year-old building at Park Street, which was ravaged by a major fire on Tuesday, Mar 23, were built illegally.

"The fifth and sixth floors of the building were constructed illegally. These were later regularised," city police commissioner Goutam Mohan Chakraborty told media on Wednesday, Mar 24.

He also added that the rescue operations were impeded due to the lack of the building plan.

"We had asked the building association president for a plan of the building and a list of tenants, but these were not provided to us. If we had the list, we could have saved some more people," he said.

The promoter, who built the two 'illegal' floors is absconding following the fire tragedy, which killed as many as 34 people.

Besides all this, the collapsible gate on the roof was locked blocking many people from escaping the inferno.

A similar mishap at Bangalore's Carlton Towers on Feb 23, which claimed the lives of nine people, was also attributed to the lack of safety measures such as sealed fire exits.

OneIndia News