Kolkata’s ongoing hotel safety crackdown has intensified, with civic authorities issuing around 200 closure notices to hotels and guest houses in six days for alleged violations of fire-safety norms and building regulations. The action follows the fatal fire at a lodge on Free School Street that claimed nine lives.
The enforcement drive has also triggered a wave of voluntary shutdowns across central Kolkata, with several hotels and guest houses suspending operations without receiving closure notices. Operators in and around New Market have reportedly stopped accepting bookings, fearing sudden inspections and orders to vacate guests at short notice.
The notices have extended beyond central Kolkata to Burrabazar and adjoining areas, locations off EM Bypass and the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt, widening the impact of the safety audit on the city’s accommodation sector.
Rajesh Sethi, president of the Calcutta Hotel & Restaurant Owners’ Association, said operators were increasingly concerned about the manner in which the enforcement drive was being implemented. “With more than 200 hotels being closed down and many more voluntarily shutting shops in the current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, the strike is meaningless,” Sethi said.
Several properties have reportedly shut operations despite receiving no formal notice. Officials at hotels in the New Market area said impromptu inspections and short-notice closures had made it difficult to operate normally.
An official of Hotel Oriental said, “Whether we are receiving notices or not, almost all hotels in this area are shutting down for the time being. There are impromptu inspections and guests are being asked to leave within an hour’s notice. It is impossible to operate a business establishment in this manner.”
The disruption is particularly significant for Kolkata’s budget-hotel ecosystem, which relies heavily on tourists, traders and medical visitors from Bangladesh. Hotel operators said abrupt closures have resulted in guests being displaced with little notice, while employees face uncertainty over their jobs.
The crackdown is therefore creating a dual impact: authorities are moving to address fire and building-safety violations, while hotels are pre-emptively suspending operations to avoid being caught off guard by inspections or closure orders.
