Soon, an app to check if Mumbai restaurants are fire safety- compliant

Last week, the Bombay HC had asked the BMC to develop an app displaying information about fire safety compliance of all restaurants in the city. According to a senior civic official, the app is presently in the planning stage.

Following the Bombay high court’s recent directive, the Mumbai Fire Brigade is developing a mobile application that will allow Mumbaiiates to know whether the restaurant they’ve chosen is fire safety-compliant.

A senior civic official told HT, “We recently spoke to private companies who are able to design this kind of system for the city. We are in talks with them for it. It is important for citizens to know fire safety standards of the restaurants they are choosing to visit. This will also bring in more transparency and accountability on behalf of the restaurants.”

Last week, the HC had directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to be more stringent with restaurants on the issue of fire safety compliance, in light of the fire in Kamala Mills that occurred last December. The court also asked the BMC to develop an app displaying information about fire safety compliance of all restaurants in the city.

The app is presently in the planning stage. One of the options is to assign a QR (quick response code) code to each restaurant. Each restaurant’s unique QR Code will be connected to the fire brigade’s database and it would be mandatory for restaurant owners to display the code outside their property. Customers who have the fire brigade’s mobile app will be able to scan the QR code to get a pop-up of the restaurant’s record, including notices issued by the fire brigade for non-compliance and the last time compliance was applied for by the restaurant.