Despite fire brigade report, BMC desists from taking action against the outlet in Crawford Market.
When Rajesh Premani got a fire brigade report endorsing his fears, that a cold drink outlet and cosmetic shop next door could prove a fatal fire trap, little did he know that the report will fail to spur the civic authorities into action.
A businessman with his shop and office in the Crawford Market area, Premani alleges that the owner of Badshah Cold Drinks, by running a kitchen at the common passage of the 60-year-old Umrigar Building, has turned it into a potential death trap in case of a fire.
“Apart from enclosing the common toilet to set up the kitchen next to it, the cold drink store has placed 30 LPG cylinders in the narrow duct lane between its two outlets in the building, thus blocking my ventilation. I am left with no option but to close my windows permanently,” Premani said.
While the fire brigade report confirmed the two structural changes as illegal, Salam, managing partner of Badshah Cold Drinks said, he had all the necessary permissions. “We have submitted necessary papers to the C-ward office and other concerned authorities after receiving a notice. All our LPG cylinders have been placed as per BMC rules. In fact, we also have a no-objection certificate from the fire brigade,” Salam added.
In a starkly similar case, the owner of a cosmetic shop (Beauty store) on the Shaikh Memon Street has constructed an illegal bridge linking it to his second shop (Beauty Palace) in yet another building on the Abdul Rehman Street. “In fact, the two first-floor shops have been linked via an illegal makeshift iron bridge, after violating all BMC rules,” alleged Premani, adding that, “We are waiting for a tragedy to happen.”
Irfan Bhamla, owner of Beauty Palace, said the barely 2.5-foot bridge joining the two buildings, which are very close to each other, exists since the past six-seven years. This, even as an exasperated Premani asked, “How can anybody connect a bridge to connect two shops?”
The fire brigade claimed its report was enough for the ward office to nail the offenders, even as angry shop keepers charged civic officials with turning a deaf ear to their pleas. Chanda Jadhav, the C-ward assistant commissioner, was unavailable for comment, even as sources in the ward office said action will be taken against the errant store and cold drink outlets soon.
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