A major fire broke out at the chemistry department in the Baker Building of Presidency University in Kolkata at 4:30 am on Friday morning, fire brigade sources said.
Eleven fire engines were fighting the blaze with water drawn from the nearby College Square tank, the sources said, adding that there were no casualties. Acting Principal Amitava Chattopadhyay told PTI that the fire broke out on the third floor of Baker Building where chemicals and gas cylinders were stored and there was a danger of the blaze spreading. The cause of the fire was not known, he said.
The Baker building of Presidency University, earlier Presidency College, was named after Edward Norman Baker, the then lieutenant governor of Bengal, and was formally opened in 1913. The Hindu College established in 1817 was renamed Presidency College in 1855.
Among its alumni are some of the biggest names of the Indian national movement, such as five presidents of the Indian National Congress, including Surendranath Banerjea, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Bhupendra Nath Bose, Lord Satyendra Prasanno Sinha and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
The first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad studied in this college. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his predecessors Jyoti Basu and Siddhartha Shanker Ray were also students of the college.
