11 days after blaze, Ezra St traders flag illegal parking, wire concerns
Times of India | 27 November 2025
Kolkata: Over a week after a devastating fire gutted several hundred shops on the Ezra Street—Kolkata's largest market for electrical goods—several market associations and trader groups wrote to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the police.
They have urged urgent action against rampant illegal parking, dangling overhead electrical wires, and widespread encroachments on pavements and carriageways. The complaints, submitted days after the Nov 15 blaze, warn that the congested lanes remain dangerously vulnerable to another devastating fire.
The area, located off Rabindra Sarani in central Kolkata, attracts thousands of workers, buyers, and transporters daily. Much of the trading activity spills onto the streets, where loading and unloading continue throughout the day. Residents and traders say that while the market's density always posed challenges, violations surged in recent years.
In a letter addressed to the mayor, the Calcutta Electric Traders Association alleged that vehicles "always park illegally not only on both sides of the road but also use 2/3 rows for illegal parking and block the one-way road in a pathetic way." The complaint further warns that "cables and wires across the electric market are not maintained in a proper way, either they are exposed or hanging on the roads." Fire officials said fire tenders could not enter the inner lanes swiftly due to illegal parking. Traders cited similar concern, recalling the difficulties during the 2018 Bagri market fire.
Fire minister Sujit Bose, who visited the site, remarked that traders too must be accountable for fire safety. Several traders said they long petitioned authorities, but violations increased.