Jogeshwari biz centre did not have fire NOC, action soon

Mumbai Fire Brigade plans action against JMS Business Centre for lacking fire safety certificates after a major fire trapped several people, requiring a rescue operation.

Mumbai: The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) will soon initiate action against the management of the JMS Business Centre in Jogeshwari West for various lapses including the lack of a fire no objection certificate (NOC), chief fire officer (CFO) Ravindra Ambulgekar told Hindustan Times.

A major fire had engulfed the top five floors of the 13-storeyed JMS Business Centre on Thursday (Hindustan Times)

“The building did not have a no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department or even an occupancy certificate (OC) from the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation). As both certificates are mandatory, we will send them show cause notices soon,” said Ravindra Ambulgekar, chief fire officer (CFO), MFB.

Electricity and sewage lines to the building would also be disconnected, he said.

A major fire had engulfed the top five floors of the 13-storeyed JMS Business Centre on Thursday morning, trapping several people including patients at a physiotherapy clinic on the 13th floor. The fire brigade rescued 27 people in an operation that lasted nearly four hours till the fire was extinguished at 2.20pm.

“During the rescue operation, we noticed that the fire safety system and fire alarms were not functional,” said Ambulgekar. MFB officials also noticed that several alterations had been made in the building, such as installations to maximise office space, renting out the parking space for carpentry work.

“We made a note of the lapses and modifications and sent the same to the ward office,” the fire officer said.

Thursday’s rescue operation was severely challenging as the building did not have windows for ventilation while the glass facade prevented the smoke and flames from escaping, which created a visibility issue, fire brigade officials said.

“We had no option but to break the glass windows to rescue those trapped,” an official said.