More than 90% shops in Saki Naka operate without license

More than 90 per cent of the tiny manufacturing units in Khairani Road in Saki Naka are running without the requisite permissions. Officials from BMC's L Ward said that a majority of the units had recently registered their shops, and were carrying out their business as per their choice without any intimation to the civic body or the concerned department.

Even the farsan shop where the fire broke out on Monday was operating without licenses. The shop owner had once registered the shop but had never applied for any other licenses. Over the years, the premises have been used for various purposes from shoe manufacturing to farsan making.

According to the records available with the ward office, kerosene oil, diesel, LPG cylinder or any other hazardous substances cannot be stored as the shop owner had not procured licenses for such purposes. However most of these items were stored in the congested area that spiked the fire. Ajitkumar Ambi, assistant commissioner, L Ward confirmed that the shop owner had never applied for a license to store such hazardous materials. The shop also had a wooden chimney for which a separate license is required.

The report submitted by the BMC's fire department has indicated that a short circuit was the main reason behind the fire while hazardous substances stored without requisite licenses fulled the fire further.