The building in Vastrapur violated norms, four families were residing in the cellar despite it being a commercial complex. It also lacked fire safety provisions
A fire in the cellar of Himalaya Arcade in Vastrapur on Friday afternoon has brought to fore the lack of fire safety provisions in buildings and flouting of usage norms. Though no one was injured in the incident, it took the firemen at least an hour to control the fire and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the commercial building.
The building is close to Vastrapur Lake. The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services personnel found four families living in the cellar. Sources said that domestic activities taking place in the cellar including cooking may have led to the fire. Moreover, the cellar was also used as a godown to store wooden scrap and waste paper.
Four bottles of domestic LPG and one bottle of industrial gas were found from the cellar. "Had the gas bottles caught fire the damage could have been extensive," said MF Dastoor, chief fire officer of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services.
It should be noted that Himalaya Arcade shares a wall with a petrol pump. "Had any of the vehicles parked in the cellar caught fire, the heat generated would have been so severe that it could have damaged the structure of the building," said Dastoor.
The Himalaya Arcade did not have a fire safety system in place. So the fire brigade had to use three water tankers and water pipelines of the building to manage the fire.
"As the fire took place in the cellar, we did not have proper lighting and the smoke made it a bit difficult for us to see," he said.
Although, Himalaya Arcade is a commercial complex four families had been allegedly living in the cellar for a number of years. Surprisingly they also managed to get LPG connection. However, the builder and chairman of Himalaya Arcade Rohit Modi claimed ignorance about the same.
"I am not in the city, but came to know of the fire incident. I don't have any information about anybody living in the cellar," said Modi.
The health department of AMC removed the material stored in the cellar and sealed the same. The civic body is also likely to recover administrative charges for moving the material from the cellar as well as bringing the fire under control as commercial complexes are not allowed to have residents living in them.
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