Civic chief orders strict action against defaulters on fire compliance, safety

Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta on Monday directed civic officers to take actions as per law against commercial establishments that have fail to comply with fire safety norms in the stipulated period of time as per the notices served. In the joint drive carried by BMC and Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) of inspecting hotels and restaurants on fire compliance, in the last few days, 2,973 notices have been served to commercial places which include malls, cinema halls, gymkhanas, go-downs, basements and others.

Notice issued under Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Safety Act for failing to comply with fire safety norms give period ranging from 30 to 120 days to comply fire safety norms. Defaulters can be prosecuted if they fail to comply with the norms after the stipulated period.

"Actions against defaulters will be taken as per law, which includes demolition, sealing the property and actions as per MRTP", Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said.

The BMC and MFB after the Kamala Mills fire started the drive and inspected 5,269 places. For ensuring inspections across the city, BMC formed 52 teams and a new fire safety and compliance cell that has 34 officers.

However, fire officers in their meeting with Chief Fire Officer expressed the challenges they face in the operations of the cell. Mumbai has over 2 lakh buildings and around 200 fire officers. If the officers are told to carry inspections, keep tab on compliance and follow the prosecution cases for the defaulters, it is an overload. We are fire fighters and cannot consume maximum time in clerical work. The compliance cell has been formed in a hurry, owing to fire safety actions after Kamala Mills fire. For effective operations, the cell should have been brought into effect only after increasing the strength and forming SOP", a fire officer said.

"The officers have doubts on the operations of the fire compliance cell. I had a meeting with the team and clarified the scope of work, towards ensuring 100 per cent fire safety compliance in the city. It is important to solve their doubts and streamline the operations," said CGO Ps Rahangdale.