Fire breaks out at high-rise office building in Kolkata's Park Street
Kolkata, Nov 5 : A fire broke out in the fifth floor of a high-rise office building in the posh Park Street on Monday, a Fire Brigade official said.
No one was injured in the fire which broke out at about 11.10 am in the eight-storey building called Apeejay House, he said.
The building is located in the Park Street which is the city's foremost dining district, with many restaurants, pubs and offices located in the area.
At least 10 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames that started in an office in the fifth floor of the building. The fire was brought under control at about 1.00 pm, the official said.
The fire department brought in hydraulic ladder and other equipments to fight the blaze. Disaster management personnel and a large number of policemen were also deployed.
Police said that people were evacuated safely from the building, which houses offices of several companies and is also the headquarters of Apeejay Surrendra Group.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, they said.
Due to the fire, vehicular movement was regulated in and around the Park Street and traffic was affected in the southern areas of the metropolis.
In March, 2010, a devastating fire at Stephen Court', near Apeejay House, claimed 43 lives.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
