2006 Kolkata Leather Factory Fire - Aftermath

Aftermath

The day after this tragedy, workers in the unorganized leather industry of Topsia area held protest rallies demanding compensation for the relatives of the deceased workers, better working conditions and a probe into the fire mishap. The mayor of Kolkata convened an all-party meeting to discuss the incident and also promised to initiate a drive demolish illegal constructions in the area. The labour inspectors inspected the building and declared the factory as illegal. Even though the building was declared illegal and unsafe, a month later, the police raided the house and found that another leather factory was operating behind closed doors in the ground floor of the building. The civic officials issued a notice to stop any work in the building. Though local residents alleged that clandestine work started in the building with the help of local MLA, Javen Khan, Khan himself blamed it rather on the police.

In 2008, two more fire mishaps occurred in the leather industries in the area, one in the month of March and the other in June: a total of nine people got injured in these two incidents. Even though fire safety licenses and insurances for the workers of the leather factories were made mandatory after the fire incident of 2006, none of the authorities—the municipal corporation, the services department of the state government, and the police—ensured that these were actually followed by the factories. The local residents claimed that the owner of the factory that was impacted in the fire incident of 2006, now operates from another address of the same area. According to fire brigade officials, the Topsia area along with nearby Tiljala and Tangra forms the most fire-prone area of the city, and that around three to four fires break out every week, though they do not get reported in the media as there is no loss of life.