Lessons from Kamala Mills blaze: Civic body to inspect eateries in south Mumbai

BMC will conduct the inspections on the last four days of December as restaurants in Worli, Lower Parel see high footfall this time of the year

A year after the tragic fire at Kamala Mills that killed 14 people, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said more than 250 restaurants, pubs, hotels and other establishments in the G south ward (Lower Parel) will be inspected by a team comprising ward officials and the fire department.

The fire at Kamala Mills last year killed 14 lives (HT Photo)

Assistant municipal commissioner of G south ward, Devendra Jain said, “We have formed teams which will conduct random inspections in hotels and restaurants. Majority of the inspections will start from evening and will go on till the night. The four-day-drive will ensure that all hotels in our ward are complying with fire safety norms and strict action will taken against the offenders.”

The inspections will look into requisite permits, adherence to norms regulating usage of cooking gas, fire safety compliance, construction as per approved plans and required space for exit and entrance to the establishments. Civic officials said that though inspections are carried out regularly, there will be a special drive in G south ward between December 28 and December 31. “Most of the hotels and restaurants in this ward witness a very high footfall during new year [celebrations]. Due to this, we will start a major inspection drive on all such establishments to ensure fire safety norms are being followed,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

Fire brigade inspected 52 spots in 16 months

Between January 2017 and May 2018, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) has inspected only 52 commercial establishments in Andheri and Bandra.

A right to information (RTI) asked for information from four wards, which cover Bandra, Santacruz, Andheri and Vile Parle, and found 11 of the 52 establishments were served notices for violating fire safety norms. In a reply to an RTI query filed by the non-governmental organisation, Watchdog Foundation, the MFB stated that from January 1, 2017 to May 31, 2018, three fire stations have inspected 52 establishments for fire compliance. Marol Fire Station inspected 16; the fire station at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) inspected 31.

Bandra Fire Station inspected five commercial establishments and issued notices to all five of them. The fire stations at Marol and BKC issued notices to three commercial establishments each.

“It is shocking to know that only 52 places were inspected and only 11 notices were issued,” said Nicholas Almeida, founder of Watchdog Foundation.

A senior fire official, requesting anonymity said, “Since August this year we are aggressively inspecting all establishments, be they commercial or residential. All officers from deputy to the lower rank firemen have been given a specific target to inspect a certain number of buildings. Our compliance cells also checks for compliance in each of the establishments be it new, renewable or if there are any complaints.”

Between August and October 2018, the fire brigade has inspected 911 buildings in Mumbai, both commercial and residential, out of which 84 were issued notices, and compliance was carried out in 826 cases.