Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced compensation for those killed and injured in the devastating fire in a hotel building at Madan Mohan Burman Street in central Kolkata that broke out on Tuesday night killing 14 people till Wednesday morning.
The compensation amount announced by Chief Minister Banerjee matches the amount announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day.
“The state Government will give an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased, while the injured persons will get Rs 50,000 each. Reiterate my condolences and solidarity,” announced Chief Minister Banerjee through a statement posted on the wall of her official X handle.
Earlier, in the day, Prime Minister Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the PMNRF to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for each of those injured.
In her message, the Chief Minister also thanked the local people residing in the area where the fire erupted, for their cooperation and help in the rescue operations and said that further investigation on the cause of the fire is on.
“It has been preliminarily reported to me that those who died were victims of suffocation/jumping etc. Further investigations are going on,” her message read.
The Chief Minister is currently at Digha in East Midnapore district, along with almost her entire Cabinet, for the inauguration of the Lord Jagannath Temple modelled after the iconic Shree Jagannath Dham temple at Puri in Odisha.
However, the CM stated that she was continuing to monitor the fire situation in Kolkata from Digha.
“Continuing to monitor the fallout of the unfortunate fire incident at a private hotel (Rituraj) in the Burra Bazar area and appreciate the Fire Services’ and police efforts in rescuing around 99 people from out of most adverse circumstances,” her statement read.
Already, questions have surfaced over the total lack of fire safety arrangements at the said building.
The hotel owner has reportedly gone missing since the fire broke out in the six floor building on Tuesday night, and the hotel staff are also unaware of his whereabouts.
A preliminary investigation revealed three major lapses in ensuring property safety measures on the part of the hotel authorities, namely a lack of adequate internal fire extinguishing arrangements, inadequate ventilation facilities, and a lack of alternative entry and exit options.
(IANS)
