The state disaster management department has transferred Rs 35,000 to the bank accounts of 38 families whose homes were gutted in a fire in Shramik Pally near Anandapur, off EM Bypass, last month.
The money, routed through the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has been given to rebuild the homes.
The reconstructed homes, however, are still several weeks away.
Some of the residents said they were under the impression that the state government or the KMC would build the homes.
Sushanta Ghosh, the councillor of Ward 108, however, said the families have to rebuild the homes themselves.
“I have got them in touch with a contractor who can be hired to make the new homes. I will also make arrangements so they get the construction materials for free,” Ghosh said.
Chandana Bag, 21, who lost her home and is now living in a shelter — the KMC has set up a shelter for the residents of Shramik Pally — complained about lack of privacy.
“All the families are living under the same makeshift roof. There are no partitions. Women are more inconvenienced than men because of the lack of privacy,” said Bag, who is staying in the shelter with her husband, two-year-old son and in-laws.
“I have to walk some distance and look for a corner to change my clothes.”
The rain over the last two days only added to the problems of those staying in the shelter.
All the residents The Telegraph spoke with said they wanted their homes rebuilt at the earliest.
“We have credited Rs 35,000 to the bank accounts of each of the families,” said Javed Khan, the state’s disaster management minister.
Khan and councillor Ghosh were present at the event at the shelter where a document declaring the transfer of funds was handed to each of the affected families.
Thirty-eight shanties were gutted after a suspected explosion of an LPG cylinder in one of the homes triggered a fire that spread through the entire colony on February 25.
More than 140 people lost their homes.
The site of the fire, where the new homes will be built, is still covered with burnt doors, bamboo poles, plastic items and heaps of concrete.
The place has to be cleared before the new homes can be built.
The Shramik Pally plot where the fire broke out belongs to the state irrigation department. Most of those who stayed there work in the informal sector — some are drivers, while a few are masons.
