West Bengal CPI(M) leader Biman Bose said when the fire raged in Burrabazar area in Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was busy playing piano in Frankfurt of Germany.
He said businessmen lost more than Rs 100 crore in the devastating fire. The fire gutted hundreds of shops in the iconic Bagri Market in Burrabazar, known to be the hub for non-Bengali traders mostly from Rajasthan, Gujarat and UP. The fire was brought under control by Tuesday evening.
The fire, when broke out on last Sunday, coincided with the departure of the chief minister to Germany and Italy for a business trip. A clip went viral next day, showing the chief minister playing a piano belonging to a roadside performer on the streets of Frankfurt.
Bose, politburo member and chairman of the left front in Bengal, lashed out at Banerjee, saying, "When the Kolkata markets were yet to see the fire being doused, our chief minister was busy playing piano at Frankfurt."
Bose sought compensation from the state government for the businessmen who lost crores of rupees. “We demand that the businessmen who lost everything ahead of the festive seasons be compensated. We are also worried that no proper investigation is being conducted. If an impartial investigation is done, many heads will roll," he said.
Banerjee, during her trip, commented about the 72-hour long fire in Kolkata's Burrabazar. She blamed the businessmen of the area who sold out every bit of the place, including toilets, to others for trading.
"Can I call them as businessmen? I have no respect for them who even sold out the toilets for money. Fire brigade and police could not get inside the place in time," Banerjee was quoted as saying.
Her comments angered the traders.
"We have made this part of Kolkata which is dangerous for others to live....People from all over Bengal come to our place to shop at reasonable price. How could the chief minister say like this?" asked Promod Kedia, a trader in Burrabazar for more than four decades.
The iconic buildings, which are as old as 150 years, house more than 300 shops in Bagri Market. Though the source of the fire is yet to be confirmed despite different theories being floated, Bagri Market is known to be a place where fire crackers are sold during Diwali and other festive seasons at cheap rates.
"We are not ruling out storage of heavy fire crackers inside the market which might stroke the fire to spread so quickly. The fire was seen at midnight and our team of fire contingent rushed within half an hour. But it spread rapidly by then," said an officer of the Kolkata corporation.
However, the government's preliminary reports showed lackadaisical attitude of the local corporation regarding the fire safety measures in the buildings of Burrabazar and its surrounding areas.
The area is located in Kolkata North Lok Sabha constituency which BJP has been eyeing in 2019.
