Ownership maze chokehold works against reform in Kolkata hotel zone
Times of India | 22 August 2026
KOLKATA: At the entrance to the sealed five-storey building at 15G, Mirza Ghalib Street, eight hoardings advertise eight different hotels and guest houses. Apart from Shikha Inn, where nine people died of asphyxiation after a fire early on Wednesday, the premises also carried signs for Hotel Taiba, Hotel Demattrie, Mariam Hotel, Hotel Royco Guest House, Adrika Guest House, Kamal Guest House and Hotel Star City.
The building is not an exception in the New Market belt. Diagonally opposite, at 30A, Mirza Ghalib Street, a three-storey building houses Biman Lodge, Park View Guest House, Empire Guest House and Bhagirathi Guest House. Another section of the same premises, with the address 30F, Free School Street, has Hotel Jaapon and Gulistan Guest House.
Barely 150m away, at 12/1 Lindsay Street, a five-storey building accommodates A-One Guest House, ZQ Guest House and Roy & Roy Guest House. Further north, on Corporation Place, two buildings — 10/11/12 Corporation Place and Futnani Chambers at 6A, SN Banerjee Road — together house 15 hotels and guest houses, including Hotel Satrap Palace, Hotel Star, Hotel Babli, Golden Palace Guest House, Mannat Plaza Guest House, Hotel Juli, Hotel Alpine 76, Hotel Society, Hotel Raunak, Hotel Alsana, Blue Moon Guest House, Hotel Mayfair, Hotel Atlantic, Hotel Heena Guest House and Savera Guest House.
Many such properties were once residential buildings, with large apartments, broad corridors and shared courtyards. Over the years, fractional ownership and multiple lessees converted them into commercial lodges, often by carving up rooms and corridors into smaller units. The result is a dense cluster of low-cost accommodations with minimal attention to fire exits, staircases, entrances and other common spaces. “At Shikha Inn and numerous other guest houses on Mirza Ghalib Street, Corporation Street, Sudder Street, Marquis Street, Collin and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, the alterations of stately old buildings are so extensive that it is difficult to imagine how cramped the interiors are,” said a civic buildings department official doing the rounds of lodges in the belt after the fire.
The problem is compounded when several operators function from the same premises. If one fails to comply with safety norms, all are affected. At 25, Marquis Street, which houses three guest houses, closure notices were served on all after violations were found in the shared property though Hotel Magnolia Maggi claimed it had all fire prevention measures, including smoke detectors, fire alarms, extinguishers, water hoses and reels, in place.
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India secretary Pranav Singh said the area’s hotel economy depended on cheap rooms. “Here, most lodges and guest houses have eight to 10 rooms. They work on wafer thin margins. Each operator tries to maximise space, increasing the risk to life. No one bothers about common spaces, particularly entrances and exits and the general health of the building,” he said.