The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation will send notices to all guest houses and lodges in Salt Lake and its adjoining areas and ask them to show the documents and licences needed to run the businesses, an official of the corporation said.

In Salt Lake, a building has to be recorded as a commercial property in the records of the urban development department if a guest house or lodge operates out of it. “If a guest house operates out of one or two floors of a residential building, those portions need to be converted into the commercial category by paying a fee to the urban development department,” an official of the civic body said.

The operators of a guest house or a lodge also need a police permit to run such a facility and a no-objection certificate from the fire department. The kitchen needs to be listed separately and will be subjected to checks by the civic body’s health department at regular intervals.

“Most guest houses in Salt Lake do not have permits and other papers. They do not even have a trade licence, which is a basic prerequisite,” the official said.

“The operators who will not be able to furnish the required licences and permits issued by the police and the fire department will be given some time by the corporation to collect them, after which the authorities will take legal steps against them.”

The civic body will also ask for the details of the residential properties that have been converted into commercial ones and identify the guest houses that are being operated from residential properties.

The move by the civic body follows an allegation by 10 madrasa teachers from Malda that they had been driven out of one guest house and refused accommodation in another because of their identity. The teachers, who came to Calcutta to attend a meeting in the education department, had booked rooms in a third guest house but a booking agent apparently told them that the property was full and accompanied them to the other two guest houses.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the allegation and the guest houses in DL, CL and CJ blocks that are under the scanner operate out of properties that are marked as residential in the records of the urban development department, an official of the department said.

On August 15, a man from Punjab was injured after an associate's gun accidentally went off inside a Salt Lake guest house. That address, too, is listed as a residential property in the records of the urban development department, the official said.

An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said they, too, will start meeting owners of guest houses and lodges and ask them to file for police permits and fire licences if they don’t have one.

“The number of guest houses that have police permission can be counted on one’s fingers in Salt Lake,” the officer said.

A large number of guest houses operate in Salt Lake, Sector V, New Town, Baguiati, Lake Town, Teghoria and Kaikhali.

“We will organise regular meetings with the owners and ask them to file for the police permit that is required to run a guest house. We will also give them a list of do’s and don’ts and carry out sensitisation drives,” said Mukesh, the Bidhannagar City Police commissioner.

According to another officer of the commissionerate, a meeting was held a week back with guest house operators at Bidhannagar East police station. An officer who attended the meeting said most owners could not furnish any documents though they have tie-ups with online aggregators that facilitate bookings.

“Most are operating from residential properties. It is difficult to determine whether it is a guest house or a residence as they don’t have any signage but are present on booking sites and mobile applications,” said the officer.

Basab Basak, of the Salt Lake FE Block Residents’ Association, said the authorities must ensure that all guest houses as well lodges follow rules and have the required licences and are checked regularly by the police.