Mumbai Central mall gets fire brigade notice for ‘false’ compliance certificate, 29 others in dock

MUMBAI: Nearly a month after a fire broke out at a mall in Mumbai Central, the fire brigade has issued a notice to the mall management and a registered consultant who had issued a “false” fire compliance certificate. The mall’s firefighting system was not in working condition when the fire broke out, yet its management had submitted a fire compliance certificate, stating that it was in good-working condition. Also, 29 malls in the city have been issued notices after their fire compliance was out of order.

On October 22, a short-circuit in a shop on the second floor of City Centre Mall building at Mumbai Central had caused the fire that raged for three days.

The incident spurred the fire brigade to check all malls and retail outlets in the city for fire compliance as they had opened after several months of lockdown. The fire brigade found that fire compliance was not in place at 29 of 60 premises that they inspected. The fire brigade issued notices to the 29 premises, asking them to put fire compliance in place or face action.

An official said that fire compliances including the fire-fighting systems should be in working condition and there should be no additional change to the premises that can create hurdles during fire-fighting.

Chief fire officer Shashikant Kale said, “We inspected 60 malls in the last few days and issued notices to 29 for noncompliance. Some places had minor non-compliance issues which the malls agreed to fix at the earliest. We asked others to make the required changes to avoid further action.”

The fire brigade inspection report of these malls and retail outlets is an indication of how such establishments compromise with safety norms.

City Centre mall fire is an example how a fire incident led to a serious incident with fire compliances not in place.BMC found that many unauthorized shops were created on the premises, using partitions that had created an impediment in the fire-fighting process.