Over 200 hotels are operating illegally without adequate permissions like fire NOC, trade license, blgd permission
With more than 200 eateries and hotels operating illegally at Kurla, eating out in this neighbourhood of east Mumbai can be a risky affair.
Most of these hotels do not have adequate permissions like no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department, trade license from the health department and building permissions.
Looks like the civic administration is yet to learn a lesson from Kamala Mills fire tragedy that claimed 14 lives around two years ago. Owing to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) inaction, activists fear that Kurla might witness a similar tragedy soon.
Last month, the Divisional Fire office asked L ward to take action against Hotel Embassy Suites in Kurla (west) under the MMC Act and MRTP Act. As per a report by the fire department, the hotel failed to produce fire NOC and trade license from the health department when it visited the hotel on July 5 following a complaint from Adhikar Foundation, a city-based NGO.
A Right to Information (RTI) query revealed that despite a notice being issued by the local ward office under MMC Act, the hotel continued to operate.
Activists Fear Another Kamala Mills
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| While civic officials claim the number of such hotels to be around 200, activists contend that the figure is likely an underestimate |
| Civic activist Gopal Saha who has been following up on the illegal hotel issue, claims that more than 250 such hotels |
| Owing to BMC’s inaction, activists fear that Kurla might witness a tragedy similar to Kamala Mills fire soon |
| City-based NGO claimed that both the fire department and ward office are passing the buck and no one is taking action |
Admitting that around 200 hotels including Hotel New Embassy Suites are operational without adequate permissions in Kurla, Manish Valanju, assistant municipal commissioner of L ward said, "At present, a survey of hotels is underway. We have come across around 200 hotels that do not have adequate documents. A notice will be issued and action will be taken after Ganesh Chaturthi since most of our staff are busy in monsoon-related work," said Valanju.
While the civic officials claim the number of such illegal hotels to be around 200, activists contend that the figure is likely an underestimate. Gopal Saha, a civic activist who has been following up with the ward office on the illegal hotel issue, claims that more than 250 hotels are running illegally in Kurla.
Adhikar Foundation claimed that both the fire department and ward office are passing the buck and no one is taking action. Shakeel Ansari from Adhikar Foundation said that even a month after the fire department had directed the L ward to take stringent action against Hotel New Embassy Suites, no action has been taken.
Refuting the allegations, Valanju said that the ward office did take action against the hotel. "In the past, we had disconnected water supply to the hotel. After Ganesh Chaturthi, we will start issuing notice and disconnect water supply of all such hotels," added Valanju.
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