Post pub fire, crackdown on illegal structures continues

MUMBAI: Continuing its crackdown on unauthorised construction for the fourth day today after a blaze at an upscale pub in Mumbai killed 14 people, the civic body asked the owners of commercial establishments to assess, on their own, if their premises were compliant with all fire safety norms.

Commercial establishment owners must assess themselves if they adhere to the Fire Codified Requirements, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, adding that if they were found non-compliant they would face action.

Demolitions were carried out in Todi Mill and Raghuvanshi Mill areas today, a senior BMC official said.


During the day, civic officials inspected 134 commercial establishments in G, N and E wards and demolished 53 unauthorised structures, the BMC said in a late-night statement. Fifty hookah parlours were sealed, the official said.

From December 29 till yesterday, BMC officials have inspected 615 establishments and demolished illegal constructions or alterations at 355 hotels and pubs.

Fourteen people died in a massive fire at the '1 Above' pub at Kamala Mills on December 29. The BMC has initiated a demolition drive against illegal constructions at hotels and pubs after the tragedy.

The Mumbai fire department is going to install a new software for the monitoring of database of fire rules compliance, a senior civic official told PTI.

"We are in the last stage of introducing a new software which will pick defaulters from the database. The database will comprise fire compliance details of lakhs of commercial and big residential establishments. The software will send alerts not only to us but also to owners (about non- compliance)," the official said.

The BMC today again appealed owners of commercial establishments to ensure that their premises are fire norms compliant. The owners should assess if their premises comply with the Fire Codified Requirements on their own or face action, said an official statement.

Besides, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta asked seven zonal deputy municipal commissioners to conduct inquiries and find out why action was not initiated against illegal alterations/ constructions at commercial structures earlier.

A BMC official said that Mehta expressed anger over the failure to take action promptly.