Music World will reopen on Saturday. (Rashbehari Das)

Ratna Lilaram landed up at Stephen Court at 11am on Friday, eager to return home after over a month. But the lack of power or water forced the first floor resident of Block IV to turn back after waiting the whole day.

The Lilarams are among the 16 families who had signed a risk bond to return to their flats. “Electricity and water supply haven’t been restored. How can one live like this?” complained Lilaram.

Power was restored around 6pm but hardly for a few minutes. “Just as we were checking the lines, there was a power cut,” said one resident.

“It’s too late now. I’ll come back tomorrow,” said D.K. Bibra of Block III. “We had asked a government-authorised contractor to check our flat. We made all the changes he suggested. The authorities didn’t give us a clearance but asked us to sign a risk bond. Every day they have something new for us to do,” he fuming.

Outside, however, the bright chandeliers of Flurys were back. People sat by the big glass windows chatting over cups of tea and pastries. “I work in this area. When I noticed Flurys had re-opened, I stepped in,” smiled Joyeeta Gupta Roy, a regular at the Park Street pastry shop.

Next door, Music World had also pulled up its shutters to reveal the familiar stacks of CDs, though the glass doors remained closed to customers. A notice announced: “Music World is opening tomorrow”.

Down right, the shutters of Peter Cat were partially up, though the restaurant will take a few more days to welcome back patrons. “Cleaning, painting and polishing is on. We will open in a day or two,” said owner Nitin Kothari. Ditto for Silver Grill, One Step Up and Jet Airways.

“We will try to open on Saturday, else Sunday,” promised the manager of One Step Up. A Jet Airways official said electricity had been restored at the airline office but the premises had to be cleaned before work could resume.

Even as Stephen Court showed signs of life, most of the building looked dark and dreary. The entrance to Block III was dug up “to change the cable of the top floors into underground ones”.

In blocks III and IV, workmen had put up temporary lights. But looking at the dark stairs to the higher floors, it’s difficult to imagine life in this ghostly building. “I went up thinking the lights would be restored soon… it was quite scary,” shuddered a resident of Block III.

The long wait to return has left the residents bitter and fuming. “There’s no power, no water, one would have to be crazy to move back like this,” said another resident.

“We have to have water immediately, the tank has to be washed and the flat cleaned…. I can’t live in this mess,” grumbled Patience Traub.

Jobs for Samaritans

Raj Mallick and Pervez Akhtar, who rescued several people from Stephen Court during the March 23 fire, were felicitated at Lalbazar and offered jobs in the home guard department of Calcutta police on Friday. Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti handed them the joining certificates.

“I have been asked to join as a driver since I am doing the same job at a hotel,” said Pervez, who helped save 40 lives. Mallick, who works as a daily labourer, said it was satisfying to get recognition for the work they did.