Governor, mayor may inspect heritage hubs

KOLKATA: Governor M K Narayanan has expressed his desire to visit heritage buildings which are lying in a sorry state in BBD Bag.

Narayanan is concerned over the condition of heritage buildings in the Central Business District (CBD), particularly after the Stephen Court inferno. The governor wants mayor Sovan Chatterjee to accompany him when he visits the buildings.

Chatterjee on Tuesday called on the governor along with 10 council members. He sought Narayanan’s intervention in making the Stephen Court probe committee report public and urged him to step in so that necessary action was taken on the part of the state government to prevent such accidents in future.

Besides, the mayor urged Narayanan to advise the state government to cooperate with the civic body in combating swine flu, which has spread fast in the city in recent weeks.

Later, talking to the media, Chatterjee alleged that though the high-power committee constituted by the state to probe into the Stephen Court incident was complete, no report was being sent to the mayor’s office “on purpose”.

“KMC is responsible for taking preventive steps for heritage buildings in CBD to prevent major fire mishaps such as the one that occurred at Stephen Court. But we need to go through the recommendations of the S N Roy Committee to act on this issue. If the report is not available, how can the civic body undertake necessary measures for protection of the city’s heritage buildings?” argued Chatterjee.

The mayor claimed that due to non-availability of the report, renewal of trade licences to 32 markets and 15 commercial buildings had been withheld. “These buildings are fire-prone and we need the expert committee’s report for renewal of at least 42,500 licences, which have been withheld for want of a clearance from the fire department and the expert panel as well,” he said.

Chatterjee said arrangements could be made to accompany the governor to heritage buildings and markets, including Mercantile Building and Ganesh Katra.