NEW DELHI: The West Bengal fire department has ordered the evacuation of the basement, sixth and seventh floors of a high-rise building in central Kolkata that houses TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s office, citing a “lack of fire safety measures”, an official said on Friday.The order came a day after Banerjee’s Camac Street office was ransacked, with the TMC blaming BJP-linked men for the attack. The BJP has denied the allegation.The fire department said the building’s fire safety certificate expired on August 10 and had not been renewed. A joint team of police and fire officials had conducted a floor-by-floor inspection of the premises on Monday.“No fire safety measures were traced in the basement of the high-rise. Following that, we served a show-cause notice to the owner of the building and gave them a 48-hour deadline.“Since we did not get any response and the deadline passed, we sent them a notice to evacuate the basement, sixth and seventh floors of the building. If the basement of any building has no fire safety measures, it could lead to a big disaster in case of a fire,” the official told PTI.
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According to the notice issued to the building owner on Friday, the basement, sixth and seventh floors cannot be used until the identified deficiencies are rectified and a valid fire safety certificate is obtained.The inspection found inadequate firefighting measures on the seventh floor, no designated fire exit and problems with the fire alarm system, the notice said.The development follows a series of incidents involving the same building. A week earlier, authorities removed an “illegal” TMC billboard from the premises, during which private security guards at Banerjee’s office, his supporters and some party leaders allegedly scuffled with police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials.
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