What is it with West Bengal and fires? Since 2025, there have been major fires, in hotels and in godowns, claiming some 65 lives, many of them poor and migrant workers and pilgrims. The State seems to be an egregious case of the generally poor fire safety record of Indian factories, industrial facilities as well as cities and towns built on top of greed, a disregard for laws, corruption, and scant respect for lives and property. The Shikha Inn was housed in a century-old building on Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata, which apparently had several hotels — on each of its five floors. It was obviously not built to be a hotel. Shikha Inn is typical of what happens in India, where old buildings with electrical systems designed for a certain load are quickly repurposed, and modern equipment is added without any consideration of whether the system can handle the air-conditioners, washing machines, heaters and induction stoves. The August 17 fire in Tarapith was apparently electrical too and the killer was the smoke. The fire spread rapidly because the pilgrim hotel used flammable materials extensively. Rituraj Hotel, which caught fire in April 2025, had also been repurposed. With just one stairway, the fire on the first floor cut off escape, and, just as in the Mirza Ghalib Street fire, smoke trapped those above.

For the new BJP government in West Bengal, the accidents have provided more fodder for its attacks on the TMC. Though Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari called the Kolkata fire “impossible to ignore”, he nevertheless blamed a “legacy of negligence”. This may well be true but serves little purpose. The present government has, similar to its predecessor, a dedicated Fire Minister. There have been promises of robust action such as a Statewide safety audit, but the focus seems to be more on the TMC than on corrective action. Mr. Adhikari should dismount the campaign horse and look at the elephant in the room — crumbling infrastructure. In its first 100 days, the government has been rather silent on the creaky infrastructure of West Bengal — a State with a rich history of urban life, industrialisation, culture and progressive politics that once led the nation, but now lags behind much of India in roads, buildings, amenities and governance. Urban renewal is the stock-in-trade of the BJP across India and West Bengal will be well served by a State BJP that adopts it. Heritage buildings and conservation have their own value, including for tourism, but require careful planning to suit today’s needs. Mr. Adhikari should place governance above petty politics and focus on infrastructure.

Published - August 21, 2026 12:20 am IST