Tirpalpatti, Burrabazar’s biggest tarpaulin hub, remains a heap of debris seven weeks after it was razed in the fire. Picture by Amit Datta

Nandaram market may have better days ahead but no such luck for Tirpalpatti. Seven weeks after it was ravaged by a fire, Tirpalpatti remains a heap of rubble.

Reconstruction of the burnt market is hanging fire due to lack of consensus between its landlords and tenants. While the traders of Nandaram rallied around and pressured the civic authorities to allow them to resume business, there has been little initiative for Tirpalpatti, Burrabazar’s biggest tarpaulin hub that consisted of 14 buildings.

“I have told the Tirpalpatti traders that no reconstruction proposal would ever be sanctioned if the marketplace remains divided into so many premises. We have also advised them to ask for a relaxation in the building rules. But the traders have not yet got back to us,” said Gorachand Mondal, the director-general (building), Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC).

One of the stumbling blocks in the revamp plan is the fact that the traders of Tirpalpatti are mostly tenants, unlike their Nandaram counterparts, who own their shops.

Despite several rounds of meetings, the landlords and tenants of Tirpalpatti have failed to come up with a plan of action. As a result, most of its 250 traders are now running shop from the pavements of Brabourne Road and Noormal Lohia Lane.

“Our demands include an official agreement on the exact shop space and location that each trader would be allocated in the new plan. We also want parts of the building, that are jutting out precariously, to be demolished immediately,” said Mohammad Bhati, the secretary of the Tirpalpatti Traders and Tenants Association.

A tenant, on condition of anonymity, said: “In each of the meetings, the landlords promised us that they would accommodate all the traders in the new marketplace. But no initiative for reconstruction has been taken so far. We fear the plot will be handed over to a promoter.”

The landlords, however, rubbished the allegation. “We have employed architects who are chalking out a plan for a new marketplace. We will submit it to the CMC for its approval in a week,” said Mohammad Bhati, a landlord.

According to a section of traders, the reason behind the tenant-landlord deadlock is an old issue of pending dues. “There are some tenants whose rents are pending and the landlords fear they may not be able to recover the money once the new market comes up,” explained a trader.