An iconic address on arguably Calcutta’s most popular stretch, but Queens Mansion lacks basic fire preparedness.
A fire broke out at a sweet shop at Queens Mansion on Friday afternoon. The fire brigade could not find a source to replenish its tenders. Water was filled in the tenders from Karnani Mansion, located across Park Street, and Stephen Court, next door.
“There are no water sprinklers or smoke alarms. No water pipelines were installed in the stairs to fight a fire. Some fire extinguishers were put up a few years ago, but they have disappeared,” said Sudeshna Ray Chaudhuri, who lives at Queens Mansion.
A building devastated by fire in 2010 became the saviour on Friday. The fire tenders were replenished from the reservoirs of Stephen Court, where 43 people died in a fire in 2010, and Karnani Mansion.
The fire at Stephen Court engulfed some of the upper floors. Narrow corridors and the lack of firefighting measures in the building helped the fire spread rapidly. Many who were trying to escape to the terrace died on the stairs leading to the terrace as the door was locked.
Following the tragedy, alarm bells rang, and the fire services directorate asked the Stephen Court residents and shop owners to use the building only on conditions that more exits, a water reservoir, smoke alarms, and water sprinklers were added. Apart, the door to the terrace was to be kept open at all times.
“The fire services directorate wanted us to build a 3-lakh-litre reservoir. We managed to build one underground reservoir of that capacity. We also have another 70,000-litre storage on the terrace. Our system seems to be working fine, as we managed to supply water to the fire tenders on Friday without wasting time. It was a drill for us,” said Debashis Guha Niyogi, a resident of the building and the secretary of Stephen Court Welfare Association.
The lessons of the 2010 tragedy did not reach the neighbouring building.
An officer of the headquarters fire station said they could not find a “pump room” to source water to replenish the fire tenders. “We replenished our fire tenders from Karnani Mansion and Stephen Court,” said the officer.
Queens Mansion stands next to Stephen Court. “It is so unfortunate that even so many years later, there is no fire-fighting preparedness, though it stands next to Stephen Court,” said one resident who requested not to be identified.
Armenian merchant and sportsman J.C. Galstaun constructed the neo-classical mansion at a cost of ₹65 lakh. Initially, it was called Galstaun Mansion, and later came to be known as Queens Mansion.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) now owns the building. Its zonal manager, the senior-most official of LIC’s eastern zone, lives in the building. Senior LIC officials in the rank of regional managers also have quarters in the building.
An LIC official said most tenants paid a meagre rent and were unwilling to come into a contract with the LIC. “They have been here for decades and have not signed any agreement with the LIC. Many of the shops also do the same thing. There are multiple litigations between the LIC and the tenants,” said the official.
The entire ground floor of the six-storey building has shops and other commercial establishments, while the upper floors, reserved for residents, have slowly started to make way for offices and stores, said a resident. “It seems the LIC wants to have more commercial establishments as the rent is much higher,” said the resident.
Neither the residents nor the LIC official could tell the actual number of residents and commercial establishments in the building.
Queens Mansion was built in the early 1920s, said Anjan Mitra, a conservation architect who recently repaired the facade and service lines and painted the building. “The repairs and restoration were done over a year and ended last December,” he said.
According to Mitra, Queens Mansion is a British Colonial architecture with an urban mansion typology that emerged when it was built in the early 1920s. It was built to have shops on the ground floor and residences above them. Many buildings in Calcutta at that time followed the same style. Alexander Court, Esplanade Mansion, Chowringee Mansion and Stephen Court were all built under this urban mansion typology.
Several residents and owners of commercial establishments at the building told The Telegraph on Friday that they were lucky the fire did not spread beyond the Gupta Brothers and Giggles stores.
“Had the flames spread, we do not know what would have happened. There is no firefighting arrangement in the building. There are no sprinklers, no water pipeline, and no smoke detectors,” said a woman who lives on the top floor of the six-storey building.