POLITICAL STORM BREWS OVER 9 DEATHS IN KOLKATA BLAZE

KOLKATA: A day after a devastating blaze claimed nine lives at the New Koilaghat building of Eastern Railway here, a political storm has broken out ahead of West Bengal assembly polls, with the Bharatiya Janata Party blaming the Trinamool Congress government for poor disaster management and the ruling dispensation rubbishing the allegation.

BJP West Bengal co-incharge Amit Malviya in a tweet said, the state should equip local bodies with fire fighting equipment and put in place appropriate protocols. Quipping “Pishi has failed Bengal,” Malviya tweeted, “WB needs a proactive disaster management policy, equip local bodies with fire fighting equipment and put in appropriate protocols.

“It also needs a transparent and efficient fire fighting policy, with mechanism to certify buildings for fire preparedness.” “Pishi” is the Bengali word used for paternal aunt and the BJP refers to Mamata Banerjee as “Pishi’ as she is the aunt of TMC MP and party heavyweight Abhishek Banerjee.

Countering the allegation, state Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose said, “From installing hydraulic ladder to largely containing the blaze, our men did everything possible. It is the Railways which could not provide us with a map of the interiors of the 12th floor.” Bose regretted that the saffron party is politicising the tragedy for “cheap electoral gains”.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had visited the site on Monday night and alleged that senior railway officials were not present. “The building belongs to the Railways. But I have come to know that no one from the Railways reached the spot till now. Our fire department asked for the building map from them in order to enter the premises but there was no cooperation from them,” she had said.

The CM, however, said that she did not want to indulge in politics with a mishap.

Nine persons, including four firefighters, three railway personnel and an assistant sub-inspector of Kolkata Police, died in the blaze, police said. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has set up a high-level committee to ascertain the cause of the fire at the sprawling building in the central business district of the city.