Kolkata:
Views of Stephen Court from Solomon Mansion on 7 Royd Street are giving its residents sleepless nights. (
See: Your photos on Kolkata fire) The Mansion's electricals are a tangle and very close to a wooden staircase, the only exit barring the lift.
Children living there are traumatized. Priti Khosla, a tenant says, "There is a panic in them. There is no fire extinguisher in the building and she asked me, Mummy, if there is fire in this building, do we also jump from the windows?"
There used to be some spiral stairs outside the building that could be used as fire escapes. But they became decrepit and the landlord demolished them. They were never replaced. (
Read: Kolkata fire: Court stops demolition of Stephen Court)
"We want safety. We have no stairs at the back so that we can run. Where to run, just tell me how to run. We shall be grateful.", adds another tenant, Ramchand J Chandramani.
Residents have gone to court because the landlord has turned much of the building into a guest house. The landlord says he has the license. The rents are so low, he has no choice.
"Because I have the guest house, I can maintain this building. Otherwise this building would have been in ruins by now. How can I manage this building with 120 or 100 or 75 rupees as rent which doesn't even come to me all the time?", says Kshitindra Mallik, the landlord.
Battles between landlords and tenants are not uncommon. But this one could turn Solomon Mansion into another Stephen Court. Is the fire department or the municipal corporation listening? (
Read: Kolkata fire: Meet Stephen Court's braveheart)