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Warehouses charred in Kolkata fire built on protected wetlands
At least 27 people are feared dead in Kolkata after a fire at illegally built warehouses on protected wetlands, prompting calls for accountability.
Two warehouses on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, where at least 27 people are feared dead after a massive blaze earlier this week, were likely built illegally on the protected East Kolkata Wetlands where no construction is allowed, people aware of the developments said on Friday.
Sonarpur panchayat samiti secretary (karmadakshya) Prasanta Biswas said the two warehouses – both owned by Kolkata-based Pushpanjali Decorators and one of them leased to restaurant chain Wow! Momo – were built on the protected East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW). “The Karimpur mouza under the Kheadaha-II village panchayat is entirely under the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW). No construction is allowed here. Be rest assured that the panchayat didn’t give any permission to the two warehouses. They have come up illegally,” Biswas said.
State environment minister Chandrima Bhattacharya urged people to lodge formal complaints against unauthorised structures. “Investigation is going on. If anyone thinks that unauthorised buildings have been constructed on the wetlands, he should lodge a complaint. If any complaint has already been lodged the authorities concerned would look into it.”
The EKW, a Ramsar site designated in 2002, is known as the “natural kidney” of Kolkata for its ability to treat the city’s sewage. However, the East Kolkata Wetland Management Authority (EKWMA) has been struggling to secure the 12,500-hectare landscape which is now strewn with encroachments.
The EKW is governed by the East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation & Management) Act, 2006 and Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
Section 9 of the EKW (C&M) Act, 2006 states that any change of character or mode of use of land within the East Kolkata Wetlands is not permitted without previous sanction of the Authority. Rule 4 of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India states that any construction of a permanent nature within EKW (being a Ramsar Site) is prohibited.
A massive fire on January 26 gutted two warehouses near Kolkata, where police said at least 27 people are feared dead and they have recovered 21 body parts — including bones, skulls and charred remains till Friday — from the site. It has now been revealed that these warehouses, along with multiple others, were allegedly built in violation of Ramsar Convention, an international treaty.
“We have received 27 missing complaints from families claiming that their kin, who worked in the two warehouses, remain untraceable till Thursday evening,” an IPS officer from Baruipur police district had told HT on Thursday.
According to an official involved in the rescue and search operations, one of the now-burnt warehouses was being used by Pushpanjali Decorators -- a firm which handles weddings and other events -- to store items such as thermocol, foam-sheets, cloth and wooden planks, the other was being used by Wow! Momo. The firm owned both the warehouses, the official added.
An official of Wow! Momo, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed this. “Wow! Momo took the warehouse on rent from Pushpanjali Decorators in 2023. We have submitted all the documents to the police. It was a dry warehouse where daily items needed in our stores, such as tissues, cold drinks and bottled water, were stored.”
Fire officials have confirmed that the buildings operated without fire safety clearances or any legal approvals. Pushpanjali Decorators’ owner, Gangadhar Das, is among the three people arrested in the case.
Data available with EKWMA revealed that between July 2007 and February 2021, at least 358 cases were registered across eight police stations in and around Kolkata in connection with unauthorised constructions, filling up water ,bodies and attacks on government officials visiting the wetlands for field surveys.
A visit to the area, located off the EM Bypass in Kolkata, revealed several encroachments, including a three-storey building where native “Hogla” aquatic plants once thrived.
EKWMA member secretary Roshni Sen said that the authority was attempting to monitor the vast area with only two staff members. “We are doing whatever is within our limits. We are only two people. The Calcutta high court and the NGT are hearing a series of cases. Recently some unauthorised constructions were demolished and power connections were disconnected,” she said.
Non-governmental organisations working on the East Kolkata Wetlands, confirmed that the two warehouses came up illegally.
“Till 2024, at least 493 cases have been registered against unauthorised constructions and illegal filling up of water bodies in the East Kolkata Wetlands. Even the two warehouses, which have been gutted, were built on a wetland in Karimpur mouza. But till date there has been no conviction in the cases registered. The illegal constructions are demolished and electricity is disconnected only on paper,” said Naba Dutta, environment activist and general secretary of Nagarik Mancha, a NGO working on environmental issues.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari attacked the government. “Who gave the permission to fill up the wetlands? With whose order the buildings were constructed? Who gave them the NOC and PUC? We won’t leave this,” he said. The BJP held a massive protest rally in Kolkata, and local leaders said that the party may also move the Calcutta high court next week on the matter.
