Kolkata, Aug. 22 -- Siraj Us Saleekeen, 52, the manager of Hotel Royal Palace in central Kolkata's Mirza Ghalib Street, leads the way through a three-foot wide corridor with rooms on both sides. Smoke detectors were found to be fitted on the wooden false-ceiling while a fire extinguisher is kept at a corner of the corridor. The 30-year-old hotel is located just opposite to the headquarters of the state fire and emergency services. The hotel is among around 13 guest houses and restaurants on Mirza Ghalib Street slapped with a show-cause notice by the fire department on Thursday for lacking fire safety. They have been asked to respond within 24 hours or face closure. The manager of Hotel Royal Palace, however, denied any violations and lapses at the establishment. "We have a fire licence. There is an emergency exit at the end of the corridor. There are smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and fire hydrants. You can check it," Saleekeen said. "But still we have been served a show cause notice by the fire department. We have been asked to produce documents failing which the hotel would be closed down." The fire department served the notices after nine people, including a child, were killed when a fire broke out in Hotel Shikha Inn on the Mirza Ghalib Street. Police have arrested Abu Zafar, the lease holder of the hotel, while two more people have been detained for questioning. The building, where the fire broke out, is located diagonally opposite to the building housing Hotel Royal Palace. West Bengal fire and emergency services minister Kaushik Chowdhury said more such hotels in other cities will gradually be brought under the scanner. "We have started with Mirza Ghalib Street. Gradually, we will take up the hotels in other areas of the city, including Siliguri, Asansol, Howrah and Rajarhat-New Town, and check their licences and NOCs (no objection certificates)," he said. HT visited the hotel and found that the fire licence was last renewed in 2019; the smoke detectors were turned off; the fire extinguisher was placed on the floor in a corner on one end of the corridor; and the 4ft X 4ft emergency exit through a room, used by the hotel staff, was shut. The dust and cobweb on iron-grills of the emergency exit and the rusty lock indicated that it has not been used for several years. A layer of dust had settled on the nozzle and hose of the fire hydrant revealing that it was not operated in many years. "We had applied for fire licence renewal but it wasn't issued. We sometimes switch off the smoke detectors as guests smoke cigarettes in the rooms. I am sorry, the emergency exit was closed. But we can always open it if there is a fire. I am not sure when was the hydrant checked but the fire extinguishers have been refilled and is valid till 2027," said Salekeen. A visit to the other hotels that were served notices also revealed a similar picture with multiple lapses and violations. At the Gulistan Guest House, located on the same floor in the building that housed Hotel Royal Palace, a staffer said most of the guests at the establishment are Bangladeshis. "We have non-AC rooms starting from Rs.500 a night and AC rooms from Rs.900 per night. They are little cramped. But most of the people who come here are Bangladeshis and they prefer to stay in cheap hotels," said Abdul, a hotel staffer. The cramped room measuring around 8' X 10' had two single beds. There was no ventilation visible in the room and the false ceiling, made of plywood, could almost be touched. Hotel Japon, in the same building, wore a deserted look. The reception was abandoned and staff nowhere to be seen. Most of the rooms were empty and open. A walk through the corridors revealed the same picture - cramped rooms with a small opening or no ventilation at all, turned off smoke detectors and corridors with low false ceilings, enough to turn the premises into a deadly trap in the case of an inferno. The collapsible gate of the emergency exit was locked and a motorcycle was parked in front of it....