India, Jan. 30 -- An official of the Sonarpur panchayat in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas said the two warehouses that caught fire on January 26, in which 27 people are feared dead, were illegally built on a wetland without permission from local authorities.

Prasanta Biswas, secretary (karmadakshya) of the Sonarpur panchayat samiti, said, "The Karimpur mouza under the Kheadaha-II village panchayat is entirely under the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW). No construction is allowed here. Be rest assured that the panchayat didn't give any permission to the two warehouses. They have come up illegally."

While one of the warehouses stored items such as thermocol, foam sheets, cloth and wooden planks belonging to a decorator, the other was being us...