Olypub, closed for Muharram on Tuesday, will remain shut till the fire services department issues a no-objection certificate. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

Olypub, the iconic Park Street pub that has spawned a cult of ‘Oly’mpians, will be shut for longer than a regulation dry day after a fire late on Monday left its mezzanine floor gutted and laid bare its lack of safety measures.

Officers of the fire services department carried out an inspection of the premises on Tuesday afternoon and said it would take at least “five to seven days” for Oly to get a no-objection certificate to reopen.

The fire-safety clearance would, of course, be subject to the owner(s) complying with all the guidelines, including installing fire alarms and water sprinklers.

The fire on Monday started around midnight and raged through the mezzanine floor where regulars meet for a drink or two, often accompanied by a beefsteak. The ground floor, a favourite with the office crowd looking for a quick drink on the go, was partially affected.

The pub was shut for two days from Monday because of Muharram.

“The fire broke out at 12.23am on the mezzanine floor, possibly because of an electrical short circuit. Three fire engines needed around two hours to douse the flames,” a senior officer of the fire services department said.

The department is likely to visit 21 Park Street again on Wednesday after contacting the owner(s) of the establishment. Nobody representing the establishment turned up to meet the fire services team during the inspection on Tuesday.

An officer who was part of the team that inspected the pub opposite Stephen Court, where 43 people died in a blaze in 2010, said the establishment didn’t have fire alarms and water sprinklers. “Let alone a water reservoir and trained personnel to fight a fire, the pub doesn’t even have a fire alarm. Fortunately, some people living in the vicinity noticed the smoke and alerted us. Otherwise, the fire would have caused more damage.”

The officer said many lives could have been lost had the fire broken out during business hours. The 10,000sqft address holds around 300 people at a time.

The fire department hadn’t been able to establish contact with the owner(s) till late on Tuesday. “Our officers tried to establish contact with the owner of the bar over the phone but he couldn’t be reached. Once the (fire department’s) officer-in-charge files a report, we will decide on lodging a complaint against the owner(s). If need be, we will summon the owner to our office on Wednesday,” said Gour Prasad Ghosh, director of West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services.

Sources said the inspection team found the mezzanine floor cramped with chairs and tables. “There was hardly any space to walk out or run to safety in the event of an emergency,” an officer said.

The annexe was cramped too and the passage to that section almost blocked by furniture. “We found cigarette butts on the floor, which means that smoking is allowed inside the bar in violation of rules,” the officer said.

Denial, disbelief and dejection hit Calcuttans who are regulars at Oly as news spread about the fire and their favourite watering hole being shut indefinitely.

Olympia Bar and Restaurant was established in 1947 and reborn as Olypub in 1981, becoming famous for its cheap booze, beefsteak and friendly atmosphere, complete with muggy carpets, cigarette fog, worn-out upholstery, cockroaches and the odd mouse scampering through the crowd of feet.

For regulars, Oly isn’t so much about the alcohol as it is about the adda and friendships built there. And to the many celebrities who have visited the place — German author Gunter Grass and cricketer-turned-coach John Wright, to name a couple — Oly crackles with atmosphere.

“When we left our bottle of milk and held a bottle of beer it was in Olypub,” reminisced Nondon Bagchi, musician, t2 food columnist and Oly regular.

Shreya Dasgupta, a freelance content writer, was “devastated” on hearing about the fire. “There are plenty of bars across the city and one can go there for their regular fix of alcohol. But at Oly, it is different,” she said.

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● Olypub for us regulars was more like a Coffee House that served booze. Wondering where to go now…

Subrata Sen,
filmmaker and Olypub fan

● It’s like our drawing room that got burnt. This place was like a club for us. My father used to go; now I do, a place where you meet new people. It’s so much a part of our days that sometimes we just SMS “Oly” to each other and we know what it means. And waiting at Oly is never a problem because there’s always a table that will welcome us…. 70 per cent of the people there are friends who we have met at Oly and bonded with on these tables. I wish they did something about the safety passage

Sharon Dutta,
die-hard Oly-mpian

● More than drinking it’s an addakhana for creative people like us. I believe that THIS is the highest-selling restaurant in the city, not so much the food but the alcohol. Rats and cockroaches have been a problem, but in the last two or three years they had controlled it and even upgraded the quality of food

Indrani Sen,
advertising professional and Olypub regular for 25 years

● This mishap was long overdue. It’s saddening when you’ve spent a lot of your good times there and because the place has a rich heritage in context with Bengali literature and films, one cannot disregard the fact that things were in bad shape. The entire place is made up of wood, ply and plastic. They were just happy that this place was minting money

Shubho Mitra,
communications consultant

I love/hate Oly because... Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com