As reported in MID-DAY by Somita Pal on 2010-03-05
Fire brigade to inspect basements of malls, multiplexes to ensure safety norms are not violated
The February 18 blaze at Borivli’s Goyal Shopping Centre has been an eye-opener of sorts for the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB). Following the incident, which claimed the life of a fireman as the shopping complex flouted fire norms, fire officials will be doing rounds in the city inspecting commercial complexes such as malls and multiplexes to ensure that fire safety norms are abided by.
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Lucky find: Fire officials recovered 41 cylinders from the basement of a Chembur building yesterday, which flouted fire safety rules |
Even before the fire brigade could begin their drive, they zeroed in on their first defaulter — a commercial building in Chembur where they found 41 cylinders in the basement.
Uday Tatkare, chief fire officer, said, “We received a gas leakage complaint and when my officials visited the building, they found 41 gas cylinders stored in the basement. The cylinders belonged to the three restaurants operating in the building.”
“It is hazardous to store so many gas cylinders and that too in the basement of a building. In case there is a fire like the one at Goyal Shopping Centre, it could be dangerous. What’s worse is that the fire system of the building is not functional,” he added.
BMC officials said that the cylinders were stored by the three restaurants in the building, which did not have a NOC from the civic body similar to Goyal Shopping Centre.
The BMC has also alerted gas agencies. S S Shinde, joint municipal commissioner, said, “We are writing a letter to all gas agencies to ensure that the cylinders are stored in a safe location and see to it there is no illegal supply of cylinders.” People can’t store gas cylinders in the basement”.
