Kolkata-Tarapith hotel fire: Bengal govt reviewing, correcting flaws in existing system of issuing licences

Last week, two hotel fires in West Bengal claimed 18 lives, with nine fatalities in each incident. In response, the state government is reviewing and correcting flaws in the existing licensing system for hotels, lodges, and guesthouses. The issue stems from a previous policy decision to decentralise the granting of two crucial permissions: fire safety certificates and fire licences.

Under this previous system, station officers were given authority to grant these permissions after receiving self-declarations from hotel owners. This led to a lack of cross-checks by civic bodies and power distribution companies, resulting in easy acquisition of trade licences and electricity connections. In light of these recent tragedies, officials are planning to introduce multi-level checks in the licensing process.

The first proposed change is to remove the absolute authority given to station officers for granting fire safety certificates and licences, instead implementing two-stage checks – one at the station officer level and then by higher authorities. Additionally, an evaluation of the automatic granting of trade licences and electricity connections based solely on fire safety certificates and licences is being considered.

These civic authorities and power companies would be required to conduct thorough checks before granting these permits, aiming to reduce the risk of hospitality entities operating without proper safety measures in place.