For the residents of Stephen Court, the month following the devastating March 23 fire that claimed 43 lives has been a long drawn ordeal of living out of suitcases at homes of relatives and friends. And they are unsure about when they will be able to return to their homes.
Adding to their woes is the bureaucratic apathy. “ Log bas murda logon ke liye mombatti jala ke chala jata hai [They just come and light candles for those who died],” Jagannath Saha, owner of a pan shop on Park Street who had rented a room in the servant quarters of the building, said here on Thursday. “No one cares for the living.”
Mr. Saha sent his family back to his village in Bihar and has spent the last month at his brother's home in Hooghly district. He commutes for three hours every day to inquire about the progress of the operations.
Chittaranjan Singh, who used to wash the cars at Stephen Court and lived on the premises, has been sleeping on the pavement for the last one month.
The employees of firms such as Gunnebo India Ltd. that operated from here also visit the premises daily. Some have not received their March salaries.
The State Forensic Science Laboratory has not submitted its report and the cause of the fire is still not known, city police's Deputy Commissioner (Detective department) Damayanti Sen said.
While debris is still being cleared from the building's Block II, the worst affected in the fire, the other three blocks have been given clearance by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Debashish Kar, a KMC official said.
However residents still have to obtain clearances from CESC, the privately owned electric company, the State's fire department and a final permission from the police thana.
“Even after these clearances, they expect me to sign a risk bond before I can enter my house,” said a resident of Block III.
While 29 of the 101 occupants have obtained clearance from the CESC, residents said the fire department has not even specified the requirements for a certificate. Fire department officials deny this charge.
