It seems that the rule of law has been abandoned, in the quest for votes. The devastating fire that broke out at the heritage building, Stephen House on Park Street, ruthlessly exposed the sham of inefficient administrators trying to play the ruler!

It was clear that not one department, not one senior officer or Minister, had the slightest idea about controlling a devastating fire that raged for over ten hours and left 25 dead, 10 missing, and many injured.

Even more depressing than the spectacle of the fire consuming parts of the heritage building was the body language of the police and firemen, who were no more than mere spectators for over two hours, without equipment or minimum initiative. Their senior officers simply stood around and chatted.

In fact the death toll would have been much higher if locals like Pervez and others had not rushed into the blazing building, defying the police and firemen, to rescue as many trapped people as possible. Taking incredible risks, they went up the stairs, as close to the searing flames and the choking fumes as possible, to bring out women, old people and scared youths out of the inferno. Others tried to throw ropes to those trapped on the ledges, to send up water bottles to keep them cool. Some of these rescuers later ended up in the hospital. Meanwhile, the policemen and firemen just watched and watched. They might have been at a cinema hall!

A word about the State Government's response: the Minister for Fire Brigade (yes, there is a Minister for Fire Brigade in West Bengal, while elsewhere, it comes under Civil defence) did not visit the area. But Ms Mamata Banerjee, Union Minister for Railways did, this being too good an opportunity to expose the left's inefficiency once more. Not that anyone expects even minimal efficiency from the administration.

Bestirred into action, lightweight Minister Manab Mukherjee also turned up, along with the city Mayor, neither being very popular among citizens. The crowd showed its contempt, and opposition leader Partha Chatterjee fared no better.

It seemed the Fire Brigade in the state capital of Kolkata, where over 10 million people live, had neither mattresses, nor nets, into which people could jump to safety. Of the three high ladders, two were out of order. And while the Fire brigade headquarters was less than half a mile away, ladders that actually worked had to be brought from the distant Behala suburb, about two hours after the fire started. The men bringing it had to face heavy traffic jams on the way.

The sole effort of the firemen was reduced to hurling a pitifully thin jet of water from a hose upwards, though it did not reach the flames raging at much greater height! Meanwhile, people continued to scream, jump and hang precariously from air conditioners as the heat got intense. And the massive crowd watched.

At higher echelons, confusion was confounded. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitted that illegal construction with support from Corporation staff was the problem in the building. The mayor, also of the CPI(M), contradicted him, saying that the so-called illegal portions had been duly “legalized.”. Anyway, the question was how the fire started and how it should have been dealt with, not illegal constructions per se. Fire brigade Minister said he would reward firemen for their exemplary work and the city police chief was “satisfied” with police efforts, although neither spelt out exactly why anyone should be rewarded for their non performance. It was clear, editorialised a city daily, that not a single government department had done anything at all to ensure minimum safety for the hapless citizens, who also paid regular taxes to run official machinery!

Next day, the government sealed the building and demolition squads began breaking down the “illegal” portion. Meanwhile offices, homes, shops and establishments were ordered to be closed, throwing scores of people out of work and residents without a roof over their heads. No one was allowed to go in even to get their toothbrushes or personal belongings out, as the search for trapped bodies went on. No wonder, residents approached the High court and secured a stay order on demolition until further notice. How could a building be suddenly demolished when residents and the owners had been paying civic taxes regularly, they argued. So people were allowed to visit their own homes and offices for 30 minutes only. Now that 25 people had died and 10 remained missing, it was the turn of the survivors to face harassment from officialdom.

At the SSKM hospital where the wounded were under treatment, staff were short of essential medicines .The police behaved badly with people, leading to altercations. At the morgue, there was bedlam, as ten persons clamoured to receive four charred bodies, there being total confusion about the identity of the deceased.

As Ms Banerjee rightly observed, for months now, greater Kolkata these days was in the news only because of a series of major fires: major fires at Ultadanga, at Khalpar area, at Mullickbazar flower market, the Nandaram market, at slums in Tiljala, — she mentioned a dozen of these. Clearly collecting fire insurance money was now a big business here, regardless of the sufferings to the people. Several official committees had been set up after the major fires, but no recommendation had been implemented. Yet, the city mayor declared that another Committee had been set up to probe the Stephen court fire, too. Not that anyone listened — or cared.

Do West Bengal citizens live in hell, under the Left Front and its inept bureaucracy? Yes and no — so long as there are common citizens like Pervez and other non-descript men who risk their lives to save others, Kolkata will never turn into hell, despite its politicos and babudom. (IPA Service)