KOLKATA: Over 35 fire tenders are fighting for over twenty-one hours to douse the flames in a century-old building in central Kolkata's Burrabazaar locality that was engulfed in fire on Monday night at around 10 pm.
Initially, seven persons were trapped in the building but were evacuated by the firemen. No casualty has been reported in the fire.
Kolkata mayor and fire minister Sovan Chatterjee said that cracks had developed in the building and it may be demolished after consultation with Kolkata Municipal Corporation engineers.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that presence of inflammable substances in the narrow entrance to the building affected fire fighting capabilities. She also mooted a bill to increase firefighting capabilities and making firefighting operations less difficult in the narrow bylanes of Kolkata.
The wholesale market area in central Kolkata has been witness to fires on a regular basis. Fire spreads fast in the narrow bylanes and densely populated and closely located buildings of the area.