An unthinking act — prompted by ignorance and, possibly, by greed — resulted in the death of twelve people, and in around twenty people being critically injured. There was also some violence, and a great deal of helplessness and anger. There were four entirely avoidable elements in the fire, and its aftermath, at Sodepur’s Readymade Centre on Friday. First, the construction work going on in the building involved the unprotected use of blow torches for welding. This is what had started the fire. Second, none of the fire extinguishers in the building was working, and none of the owners had the faintest idea of what sort of emergency action to take. Third, and most disastrously, the shop’s main shutters were promptly pulled down and locked, preventing people from escaping the lethal fumes. All the deaths were caused by asphyxiation. Fourth, most of the hospitals and health centres nearby were unable to administer the basic life-saving measures to the people brought in from the accident, delaying treatment and causing more deaths. What looks like the criminal irresponsibility of the shopowners — in allegedly paying scant attention to rescue work and busy saving their wares and cash from the fire — has sparked off mob violence in the area. This adds another sordid, but inevitable, dimension to the episode, showing how risky and fraught life could be in a rapidly developing city.

Construction work is ubiquitous in a burgeoning city. And everywhere, this work is being carried on without the right kinds of safety measure. Calcutta seems to be a city hurtling towards modernity with an energy that is driven by a mysterious death-wish. Speeding drivers refuse to wear seat belts, bike-riders go without helmets (or keep their pillion-riding children bare-headed), building work on busy streets leaves both workers and pedestrians unprotected, there is usually no conception of fire-safety rules in old and new buildings — the list goes on endlessly, as does the inventory of tragedies. Yet nobody seems to learn from these experiences.