Kolkata, Aug. 20 -- West Bengal Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Paul on Thursday questioned the absence of basic fire safety measures at the Kolkata hotel where nine people died in a blaze, alleging that repeated violations and corruption under the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government allowed such lapses to persist.
Her remarks came a day after the fire at Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata, in which nine people died, most of them from smoke inhalation. A preliminary forensic examination has pointed to an air-conditioning unit at the third-floor reception as the likely source of the blaze.
"The erstwhile TMC government that was in control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation allowed suc...