As the death toll in Monday’s fire at two warehouses on the outskirts of Kolkata rose to 25 on Thursday, and with reports of dozens missing, the Opposition parties have slammed the TMC government’s response and accused it of a cover-up.
While Gangadhar Das, the owner of Pushpanjali Decorators and one of the gutted warehouses, was arrested on Tuesday and remanded in police custody till February 4, in connection with the fire, the CPI(M) has questioned the police for not arresting the owners of Wow! Momo — Vinod Homagai and Sagar Dariyani — who own the other warehouse.
Accusing the TMC government of not being interested in arresting the “real culprits”, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “In the name of change, wetlands are being filled up. If one sees the 2011 satellite map, there is nothing. Slowly, everything has changed. It’s because a lot of money has illicitly flown into the TMC government to cover up the whole issue. The owner of the Warehouse decorator is from Medinipur. So he must be a BJP man. Probably that’s why he has been arrested.”
Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who was stopped from reaching the site on Thursday since prohibitory orders were imposed in the area, alleged that the death toll in the fire could be significantly higher than the official figures.
“My sources say body parts are being sent in bags to the Katapukur morgue (in Kolkata). Those bodies which were recovered in relatively intact condition have been identified, but what is being found now is reduced to ash, like charcoal,” Adhikari told mediapersons.
The Leader of Opposition claimed the final death toll could rise to “35 or even 40”. “The wetland has been covered, and the entire Sonarpur has been illegally sold by the TMC. The local police and the TMC are responsible for this death. The incident happened 10km from the Chief Minister’s residence, but still she (Mamata Banerjee) did not find time to visit the area. We condemn this action of the chief minister,” Adhikari said.
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Later in a post on X, Adhikari alleged “criminal negligence” and claimed that the two warehouses stored hazardous materials and operated illegally without fire safety audits or no-objection certificates.
Police have imposed prohibitory orders in the area, saying it was done with the permission of the local court to prevent large gatherings that could hamper forensic work in the congested locality. Notices regarding the restrictions were displayed on barricades around the site. Describing the prohibitory order as “draconian”, Suvendu Adhikari alleged that it was imposed to prevent him from visiting the area, meeting bereaved families, and leading a peaceful protest. “This is not law and order; this is state-sponsored strangulation of democracy,” he said.
He, later, moved the Calcutta High Court to hold a protest rally in the area. The court granted him permission to hold a rally from 11 am to 3.30 pm with a 2,000-person limit. The rally will commence from Shitala Mandir, from Narendrapur Police Station, with a 5-member delegation submitting a deputation, the court said, and also mentioned that there should be no provocative speeches, no damage to property, and 20 volunteers should provide contact numbers to the police.
A massive fire broke out around 3 am on January 25 at the twin warehouses at Nazirabad in the Anandapur area of Baruipur in South 24 Parganas. The blaze reduced warehouses and a manufacturing unit to rubble, leaving behind charred buildings and the bodies of workers.
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On Wednesday, a statement issued by an eatery, Wow Momo, whose warehouse was affected by fire, clarified that fire spread from the adjoining godown to their premises due to unauthorised cooking, resulting in the deaths of two of their employees and a security guard.
