The blaze at Chatterjee International

The fire department on Friday allowed the first 13 floors of Chatterjee International to reopen. The government had earlier announced that the entire building would be reopened barring the three blaze-affected floors.

The decision to reopen the first 13 floors followed an inspection of the 23-storeyed business tower by several agencies.

Businessmen having offices at Chatterjee International said the fire department had assured them that permission to reopen the rest of the floors would come “shortly”.

The building was closed since an office on the 15th floor caught fire on Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday, fire and emergency services minister Javed Ahmed Khan had said in Nabanna that the entire building except the 14th, 15th and the 16th floors could be reopened immediately.

On Thursday, the government released a statement repeating what Khan had said and listing some of the firefighting mechanisms that needed to be installed at the Chowringhee landmark.

Chatterjee International has nearly 250 offices, many of which are of small and medium-scale industries. Most of the offices are on or above the 13th floor.

After Tuesday’s blaze, the fire department was criticised for allowing the occupants to operate without the basic firefighting preparedness.

Within 24 four hours of the fire, the government expressed its eagerness to reopen the building barring the three affected floors.

At a meeting at Nabanna on Thursday afternoon, the government had assured the representatives of the building association that the fire department would on Friday give them the permission to reopen the entire building barring the three affected floors.

But the government had to modify its stand following Friday’s inspection.

“The government is eager to reopen the building at the earliest because it does not want to be seen as harassing the business community. But the fire department cannot take further risks. We cannot allow the floors beyond the 13th to reopen without being sure about fire-safety arrangements. Right now we are not sure which portion is still vulnerable to a blaze,” said a fire department official.

Fire department sources said the permission to reopen the upper floors has been withheld not because of any “specific vulnerability” but to allow more checks.

Officials feel reopening the building part by part is safer. “We will decide about the upper floors after an inspection next week,” said an official.

The fire department’s decision on Friday took the owners of office units at Chatterjee International by surprise.

“The fire department’s decision is at variance with its earlier assurance,” said a businessman, who has been in touch with various agencies after the fire.

“The decision has come as a surprise. On Thursday we had told the government officials that the livelihood of many people would be at stake if the offices were kept shut. We also requested them to keep in mind that the festive season is round the corner before taking any decision,” said a businessman who owns three offices at Chatterjee International.