PCB orders vendors to maintain ‘status quo’ at Fashion Street

The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) administration has ordered the vendors operating inside the burnt fashion street market to maintain status quo and refrain from carrying out illegal constructions inside the market

The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) administration has ordered the vendors operating inside the burnt fashion street market to maintain status quo and refrain from carrying out illegal constructions inside the market.

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Recently, the board had received complaints about pipe iron structures being built without the mandatory permission of the board. The board administration wants to construct a commercial complex equipped with all the fire safety norms and claims that the hawkers have not shown any interest in the proposal. The PCB has issued a public notice asking the vendors to main ‘status quo’ at the market.

PCB CEO Amit Kumar said, “We had ordered for the status quo at the market to be maintained as we don’t want the lives of the citizens including the vendors in danger in case of future incidents of fire. Currently, the vendors are carrying out illegal constructions which are against the cantonment act. We have written to Pune police to take action against illegal construction at Fashion Street and requested them that, if need be, an FIR be registered. The compromise decree with the vendors is pending in court and till further orders; the hawkers cannot be legally evicted out of the premises. There was no sanction for construction of permanent structures as per the original decree.”

MG road hawkers and pathari seva sansthan president advocate MG Akolkar said, “Who is the PCB to order status quo at the market as it is the mandate of the court? The board had given permission to the hawkers to conduct business at Fashion Street in 1990. After the outbreak of the fire, the business was stopped for some time. The business never stopped and will continue. The 440 hawkers are doing business usual at Fashion Street. The board must protect the rights of the traders and allow them to conduct them business as per their constitutional rights. The administration has become dictatorial and itself going against the law by snatching away the livelihoods of poor vendors.”

On March 26, as many as 600 shops were completely gutted after a major fire broke out at the famous Fashion Street market in the Camp area of While there were no casualties in blaze, the head of Pune Cantonment Board’s (PCB) fire department killed in road accident while returning home after dousing fire.

Prakash Hasabe died after his two-wheeler came under the wheels of a truck around 6.30 am, the next morning. He was on his way home to Viman Nagar after finishing the firefighting work at Fashion Street which got burnt down completely in fire incident.

Fashion Street adjacent to MG Road is a famous `window shopping’’ destination that houses small outlets selling garments, shoes, goggles and other accessories. Local traders said there were 448 registered shops and over 200 unauthorised outlets located in the market.

According to Pune Cantonment Board (PCB), a report was submitted in 2018 highlighting the “risk” of similar incidents and possible difficulty to deal with it at Fashion Street due to congested nature of area.

The joint fire audit report submitted by the Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Fire Brigade Superintendent of PCB was discussed at the special board meeting held in 2018 under the chairmanship of the then PCB president Brigadier Rajiv Sethi. The audit report says the market does not have sufficient exit points in case there is a fire and people have to be evacuated.

Fire incidents that happened in different cities of the country, it was required to do a fire safety assessment or audit. In 1997, MG Road was cleared off by unauthorised vendors and the administration provided these hawker stalls of five feet by four feet and totally 565 shops came under the agreement.

The report pointed out that many shopkeepers used plastic curtains as partitions, which are hazardous in the event of a fire, and the narrow ways inside make it difficult to move. There are stalls outside the market serving as cafeterias or hotels and use fuels like LPG and kerosene, the report stated. According to the records and earlier verification carried out by the revenue staff of PCB, the place is not safe if any fire incident takes place. Also, it is difficult for a fire vehicle or ambulance to reach there due to narrow and congested roads.