The Haldiram outlet at the Exide crossing

The Haldiram outlet at the Exide crossing, closed since it caught fire on November 19, will reopen this week.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) on Tuesday informed the high court that it had no objection to the sweet, snacks and fast food address raising its shutters.

Fires had broken out at the same Haldiram outlet twice before — in August 2008 and June 2005.

The fire services officials had claimed after the third blaze that the mezzanine floor room where the smoke was first spotted had been built illegally and did not have fire extinguishers.

But last week, the fire and essential services department and CESC submitted reports to the high court stating that the company had followed their guidelines and had taken all possible steps to prevent and fight fires. Calcutta police, too, said they had no objection to the reopening of the shop.

Justice Sanjeev Banerjee told Mahesh Agarwal, who owns the company that runs the outlet, to deposit a fee to the civic authorities by Wednesday to renew the trade licence.

The high court had earlier ruled that the food stop could not be opened without permission from the court.

“After receiving the licence fee, the CMC will inform the court, which will then grant the formal permission,” said Alok Ghosh, the lawyer representing the civic body.

The opening of Haldiram could speed up the reopening of McDonald’s on Park Street, which has remained shut since an explosion on August 12, 2007.

Fire services officials had said they were reluctant to renew the eatery’s licence in view of the Haldiram fires.

“We are awaiting the no-objection certificate, which is expected anytime. We should open in the week starting January 19,” said Rajesh Kumar Maini of McDonalds India (North and East).