West Bengal government stepped up efforts on Friday to crack down on hotels that have been found to be violating fire safety norms, cops said 13 hotels were shut and asked 16 others to leave the premises in central Kolkata.
Over 50 hotels in Kolkata have too been given show cause notices, while 29 in other parts of the state have been issued with similar notices. These hotels under the scanner are those that are in proximity to Mirza Ghalib Street, Marquis Street and SN Banerjee Road in central Kolkata.
The crack down coincides with days after a deadly fire at the hotel ‘Shikha Inn’, at the centre of Kolkata that took nine lives. The owner of the hotel is still at large and the hotel’s leaseholder has been arrested. Some 80 people were able to be evacuated from the building after the fire.
The latest incident comes after a fatal fire at a hotel in Tarapath, Birbhum district, earlier in the week that claimed the lives of nine people, including two children. Already 15 hotels in the temple town have been closed.
Inspection was still ongoing in all parts of the state and if establishments fail to follow safety rules further action would follow, west Bengal Fire Minister Kaushik Chowdhury said.
State Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul also posed a question about how hotels which were found in violation of safety guidelines had received trade and fire licences. If the businesses are breaking the law, they would not be able to keep going,” she said.
General check of the hotels for any possible risks to guests and workers is now being undertaken by authorities. The government said the enforcement programme will roll out throughout the state, adding that it is important to remind establishments that do not meet fire safety standards that they could be closed.