It is the familiar story of years of silent neglect, bolstered by a shameful lack of preparedness, leading to a terrible disaster. Only this time, no one had quite anticipated the scale of the tragedy, or even its timing and venue — in broad daylight, in the middle of the city’s most happening corner. It is perhaps for the first time, and hopefully for the last, that people were seen jumping off a building on fire as scores of firefighters looked on stupefied, unable to offer even a safety cushion to relieve the impact of the fall. It is ironic that West Bengal is the only state to boast of a fire services minister, Pratim Chatterjee, whose primary job seems to be the defence of the indefensible. He has firmly stood by his department in the face of bitter public criticism, and explained away all possible lapses as being entirely fortuitous, therefore beyond reproach — absence of a proper floor plan, an ancient wooden staircase, traffic jam, and the list goes on. It is another matter that a vast number of posts in his department lie vacant, that the average age of those in service is 45 years, or the equipment available to them is either obsolete or insufficient in number. As the people of Calcutta have learned their lessons the hard way, they wisely did not rely on a troop of unfit firefighters scrambling helplessly to deliver their duty. It is laudable that the common people lent active support to the rescue operations, even risking their own lives. But, at the same time, this only goes to show how little the people can depend on the authorities when in dire straits.

In the last three months alone, Calcutta has seen two major fires that gutted two slums, one in Tangra and the other in Ultadanga, which were, once again, attributed to the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s reluctance to demolish unauthorized structures, like the two floors which came up on Stephen Court in 1984. It is no secret that an elaborate paralegal structure, defying every civic law, thrives in Indian cities. Electoral concerns always come first, allowing illegal activities to go on unabated, even when they pose a threat to public life. The huge blaze in Nandaram Market in 2008, lasting for more than 100 hours, clearly did not shake up the administration strongly enough.

It is especially shameful that a grand old mansion like Stephen Court, featuring prominently on the list of heritage buildings (most of which are falling apart), had to meet such a fate. The administration could not be bothered with its upkeep or even with retrieving a colossal amount of tax lying unpaid. But proactive measures and progressive thinking have never figured in the CMC’s blueprint for the city anyway. It is up to the people now to save themselves, thanks to the combined venality of the CMC and the fire department.