After Kamala Mills fire, Mumbai hotels, restaurants to conduct safety audit

Both the Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHAR) and Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) issued a circular, asking their members to carry out the audit at the earliest.

Following the Kamala Mills tragedy, hotels and restaurants across the city will soon conduct fire safety audit on their premises.

Both the Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHAR) and Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) issued a circular, asking their members to carry out the audit at the earliest. (FILE)

Both the Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHAR) and Hotel & Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) issued a circular, asking their members to carry out the audit at the earliest.

AHAR has issued basic guidelines to be followed such as preventing blocking of common passages, entry and exits, fire escapes and other such passages, stocking hazardous materials carefully and refilling fire-fighting material in time.

Santosh Shetty, president, AHAR, said safety is their priority. “This concerns both our property as well as lives of our patrons,” said Shetty. “We will take to task our members who do not comply with the safety guidelines.”

The AHAR office-bearers who met municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta assured him that the hoteliers would comply with all the rules.

The hoteliers are supposed to carry out fire audit twice a year and submit the report to the BMC. While the rule was never followed, the authorities, too, ignored the violation.

The HRAWI has warned its members that their membership will not be renewed if they don’t comply with safety norms. “We are selecting 2-3 third-party agencies who will visit the premises of our members and certify the premises. We will not renew memberships of hotels who are not safety compliant,” said Dilip Datwani, president, HRAWI.

According to the fire brigade report, the blaze started on the premises of Mojo Bistro and spread towards 1Above resto bar in Kamala Mills. The fire spread because of the common roof shelter made of combustive material. In addition, there were no emergency fire exits, while the entrances were too narrow. Even the fire safety systems were not in working condition.

3 godowns in Nagpada sealed

After a fire gutted the illegal commercial structures in the basement of Zia Apartment CHS, Nagpada on January 5, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) sealed three godowns in the building on Tuesday.

The civic body said it also shut down a restaurant and confiscated gas cylinders after inspecting eateries and buildings in south Mumbai.

Civic officials said all five eateries were issued notices by the health department for cooking non-permitted food items. The basement premises of two residential structures in Nagpada were also inspected after which the illegal structures were demolished.

According to the civic body, the owners of the godowns that were used to store mobile accessories including batteries, cloth material for sewing and chemicals have been charged under the Maharashtra Region and Town Planning Act. Assistant municipal commissioner Sahebrao Gaikwad told HT, “We have sealed one eatery after inspecting 8 commercial establishments. We had issued show-cause notices earlier for the removal of the godowns in Zia building after we received complaints from residents of the building.”

In addition, the BMC took action against at least 100 illegal structures, including 25 hutments and 15 extensions, on Meghraj Sethi Marg, Byculla. These structures were blocking vehicular traffic on the road, said officials.