Narkeldanga: One dead in blaze; clash breaks out post fire

Kolkata: Following the death of a man in the Narkeldanga slum fire, which broke out on Saturday night, a clash ensued between two groups of people on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, while firefighters were trying to control the flames, Mayor of Kolkata, Firhad Hakim reached the spot and took stock of the situation. Local residents reportedly urged the Mayor to construct houses for those who lost their homes in the fire. However, the Mayor said since the land concerned belongs to the Irrigation department, if the latter gives space then KMC can build houses for them under the Banglar Bari scheme. The persons who lost their homes in fire will get compensation as per the norms, he assured.

A section of local people complained about the malpractices in the area. Allegations of corruption were levelled against councillor, Sachin Singh, leading to a scuffle between them and his supporters. Later, a large contingent of police force controlled the situation. In the afternoon, forensic experts visited the spot and collected samples for examination in order to ascertain the cause of the fire. On Saturday, around 10:30 pm, fire broke out at a shanty in a slum located by the canal on Canal West Road in Narkeldanga. The fire spread to other shanties. An elderly man, identified as Habibullah Mollah (62), was found missing. Local residents searched for him but failed to trace him.

Sixteen fire tenders were pressed into action in phases. The fire was doused almost after 19 hours. The firefighters rescued Mollah with critical burn injuries. He was taken to NRS hospital where the elderly man was declared brought dead.