The top two floors (in red) of 23A NS Road were added in the mid-70s, but they have no access to the lift or the rear exit. The building that houses Stephen Court Ltd is a maze of wires, air-conditioners and cubby holes. (Amit Datta and Sanat Kr Sinha)

The façade of the building announces Fortuna Tower in big and bold letters. Once past the first floor, 23A NS Road resembles a tower of misfortune.

The first floor is where the registered office of Stephen Court Ltd, the original leaseholder of Stephen Court, is. And the 11-floor office building not far from the RBI office appears as much if not more of a tinderbox than 18A Park Street.

On Monday afternoon, Metro ran a safety check-list that 23A NS Road failed miserably.

The building

Bagaria More Company Limited — comprising the directors of Stephen Court Ltd, Sanjay Bagaria, Pradeep K. More and S.K. Sureka— are the leaseholders of the plot on which Fortuna Tower stands.

“Bengal Bonded Warehouse leased the address to Bagaria More for 99 years. The earlier Commercial building was the replaced with Fortuna Tower,” said Sujit Kumar Mukherjee, the general secretary of the building’s tenants’ association.

The building has at least 300 occupants on any given weekday. And “around 1,000 air-conditioners”.

Added floors

“The construction of the first nine floors was completed in 1965. “But in the mid-1970s work on two more floors started. Till today, the two top floors do not have access to the lift or the entry-exit point at the rear,” said Mukherjee.

So, the construction of the top two floors at 23A NS Road happened around the same time as Stephen Court was given a sanction to add floors.

Fire-safety measures

In the past two-and-a-half decades the highrise has witnessed three fires, out of which the one in 1988 damaged a portion of the second floor. A few years ago there was a fire in the transformer room on the ground floor. Fire-fighting arrangements spotted on Monday? None.

“The owners have laid a waterline but there is no water reservoir. Where will the water come from in an emergency? There is no fire-alert system. If there is a fire on the second floor how would someone on the ninth floor know?” demanded Mukherjee.

The tenants’ association has over the years written to the mayor and the chief secretary, the fire minister and the police commissioner, warning that 23A NS Road was a death trap. The silence from the powers that be has been deathly.

Entry and exit

There are two points in the building which are used for entry and exit. On the second floor, the common passage has been sold off and the rear exit sealed. “Vacant space including common passages, staircases and bathrooms are being sold off, piece by piece,” alleged tenants.

Ownerspeak

When Metro visited the first-floor office of Bagaria More Company Limited, mum was the word.

“Only the owners are authorised to speak but they have not been coming to office for the past few days (read Wednesday, the day after Stephen Court went up in flames). You will have to come some other time,” said a man in the front office who refused to reveal his name.

Firemanspeak

A senior fire department official called for a crackdown by “multiple agencies” to salvage 23A NS Road. Fire services director Gopal Bhattacharjee had visited the building a few weeks back and found glaring loopholes. “Fire extinguishers would not be of any use in that building. They need a water reservoir and water hydrants on all the floors with a waterline,” he told Metro.

Among other things.