Civic chief orders inspection of all markets in 2 months

Taking serious note of the encroachments that plagued the four south Mumbai markets, gutted by a major fire, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Subodh Kumar has ordered a thorough inspection of markets in the city for illegal alterations and encroachments.

Taking serious note of the encroachments that plagued the four south Mumbai markets, gutted by a major fire, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Subodh Kumar has ordered a thorough inspection of markets in the city for illegal alterations and encroachments.

HT Image

The civic commissioner has ordered the Mumbai fire brigade to inspect both public and private markets, and submit the report in the next two months. This comes after the Saturday fire, which gutted four major markets — Sara-Sahara, Yara, Greenhouse and Manish market partially.

Hassan Muzawar, chief fire officer, Mumbai fire brigade said, “We will be inspecting both private and civic markets for all kinds of illegal alterations and encroachments.”

Said a fire official, not wishing to be named, “It will be a very long-drawn affair to inspect whether they are following fire safety norms or not, as we will have to deal with minute details. We will inspect illegal alterations and encroachments, if any.”

In Monday’s general body meeting of the BMC, corporators raised questions about the fire brigade’s efficiency. Bhartiya Janta Party corporator Ashish Shelar said: “The fire brigade keeps telling us they had been conducting inspection in malls and shopping complexes after the Goyal shopping centre fire at Borivli. Over a year later, there is still no report about which complexes are safe and which aren’t.”