Kolkata High Court retains orders against the closure and demolition of rooftop restaurants in the city

Kolkata High Court's perspective | Photo source: Hindu

Kolkata

The Kolkata High Court kept the action on the rooftop restaurants after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation began driving to remove such facilities after the Kolkata hotel fire. This comes after Kolkata municipal corporations began cracking down on rooftop restaurants last week to alleviate fire safety issues after a fire at a city hotel claimed 14 lives.

On May 5, the Kolkata High Court verbally asked KMC officials not to demolish the rooftop restaurant on Park Street until the demolition work had begun last week. The restaurant owner said that despite the “permit”, the demolition was still in court, but so far the court has not passed a formal order from the court.

To this end, KMC Mayor Firhad Hakim told the media that Whatsup Cafe carried out illegal construction in Kolkata and received a notice in December 2024. “They have been staying in court. But if there are some unfortunate events there, who will be responsible if there are some misfortunes there?

He also insists that businesses should not block shooting exits and open spaces in buildings, which could make rescue during fire safety a major obstacle. The blockage of exit passages caused major problems in the rescue process in the case of last week's Rituraj hotel fire, killing several people.

Meanwhile, the future of 83 rooftop restaurants, bars, restaurants and cafes in Kolkata remains uncertain after ordering from the KMC office on May 2, as the notice says the roof of any building is a common property and cannot be used for such commercial purposes.

On Saturday, May 2, Kolkata police shared a list of 83 restaurants with rooftop areas in the city. Since then, some of the city’s top food and beverage venues have been affected by scanners. On the list, places like Olterra, Astor, Park Street Social, Zucca Lounge, Whatsup, etc. make up some of the largest populations in the city’s food and beverage industry.

Hotel fire

On May 6, Deputy Commissioner of Police – Central Branch Kolkata, Indira Mukherjee headed to Bagree Market in Kolkata to check fire safety issues, check paperwork carefully and ensure fire equipment is provided in crowded markets. This development occurred on April 29 at Rituraj Hotel Fire in the crowded market area of ​​the city center Melabada, which caused alarms on many Kolkata buildings and markets lacking fire safety.

Police also arrested a fourth person in connection with the hotel fire that tragically claimed 14 lives. Mohammad Sagir Ali was in charge of the renovation and was arrested in the Koraghart area on Monday.

Mr. Ali is the fourth arrest, formerly the owner Akash Chawla, hotel manager Gaurav Kapoor, and Khurshid Alam is responsible for the construction contractor.