The fire brigade issued notices to two commercial establishments in Malad and Andheri recently for compromising with safety measures, but it has had no impact. Even a police case, which should have been a more serious step, has ceased to matter. Politicians alleged that notices have become more of a tool for harassment of residents.
But fire brigade officials claimed people were not taking the issue seriously, which prompts them to issue notices when they detect negligence. The fire brigade conducts surprise inspections of buildings and slaps notices if they find negligence regarding internal firefighting systems.
“Fire brigade notices are nothing but a tool to harass people. They must regularly conduct fire audits of buildings. They only slap notices after a fire,” said Congress corporator and Opposition leader in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Devendra Amberkar. He was referring to notices issued to establishments in Malad and Andheri that caught fire recently. The fire brigade declared them dangerous for habitation as their firefighting systems were not working.
A fireman lost his life in Amboli last year and seven people lost their lives in Powai. The police registered negligence cases but are yet to take action. The fire brigade has not followed up on the case to ensure that the police can fix responsibility.
A fire broke out recently at Kenilworth on Linking Road, Bandra. When the fire brigade found it had made structural changes, it recommended that power supply to the mall be disconnected and told the supplier not to restore it without its NOC. But power supply was restored without the NOC.
Civic chief Ajoy Mehta had constituted a panel to home in on illegal alterations and fire hazards in commercial establishments too. But an audit of commercial establishments was limited to a few areas. The fire brigade claimed it inspected 20 malls in the city after the Kenilworth incident.
Chief fire officer P S Rahangdale said, “We regularly inspect buildings. We remind them to check their firefighting systems and take precautions. People follow our advice for some time, and then are negligent again. We issue notices when we detect negligence.”