The Shishi Bhushan Street (Babu Bazaar) used to be an ideal residential locality to house Calcutta Office officials in pre-Partition days. This residential locality and its surroundings, which used to be a gated residential community during the British Raj, now looks like one commercially thriving slum with small residential units. The area has no gas; witnesses prolonged load shedding; and faces the problems of scarce water supply. Auto workshops and parked vehicles have clogged the area’s streets, leaving little room for pedestrians. Ground floors of several houses serve as showrooms for prohibited materials, including inflammable foam mattresses. The authorities remain oblivious to occasional fire outbreaks in these illegal residential go-downs.
The authorities should inspect all these go-downs and find out whether they house prohibited materials. Any warehouse where such materials are found should be sealed immediately. They should remove vehicles and vendors from the street, confiscate inflammable foam and other incendiary material (like uncertified LPG cylinders), and close down unhygienic food shops in the area.
Amjed Jaaved
Rawalpindi