‘Remove stalls, carwash kiosks from mall basements’

THANE: Following the fire in Lake City Mall last week, the general body of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has again raised the issue of basement and walkways spaces in malls which have been encroached upon.

Though the civic administration had earlier inspected the city malls, they only made a report of the encroachments but did not take action, alleged the general body members. The encroachments will pose obstacles during evacuation in case of a major fire.

On February 15, more than 350 people were evacuated after a fire broke out in Lake City Mall, which is 20 years old. The dousing of the fire took a lot of time as small fires kept breaking out because of the interlinked electrical wiring.

On Thursday, TMC general body took up the issue of illegal stalls and carwash kiosks in the basement of malls which can also lead to obstructions during firefighting.

Mrunal Pendse, BJP corporator said, “The administration had assured that they will take action against carwash kiosks in the basement, illegal alterations and also on the stalls which block the walkways in malls. We have not received report of any such action so far.”

An official from the encroachment department said, “We have surveyed two big malls in the city and found carwash kiosks operating illegally in the basement of one of the malls. We have served a notice, asking it to remove the carwash kiosk. We had given permission for the carwash kiosk in the second mall.”

The general body also claimed that instead of merely filing a report, the encroachment department should shut the stalls.

Mayor Naresh Mhaske said, “The administration should check if all the stalls set up along the walkways in the mall pay property tax.”

The civic administration said they will take action against malls having illegal stalls in the next eight days.

Congress corporator Vikrant

Chavan added, “Some of the malls have flouted the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning norms by not leaving enough space on the service road for ambulances. There is a lot of discrepancies in the plans submitted by the malls and the actual construction.”

The members also demanded to know if the malls have sufficient ventilation in case of a fire. The fire department said the malls in the city have submitted their fire audits.

Shashikant Kale, chief fire officer, said, “All the malls in the city are fire-compliant. They have carried out a fire safety audit and submitted a report to us in January.”

NAVIMUMBAI: After a spate of fire incidents in housing societies as well as industries, Navi Mumbai MunicipalCorporation(NMMC) has decided to buy 68-metre Bronto Skylift and a robot to fight fires caused by chemicals, oil or cylinder blasts.

The move comesafter a major fire incident at 21-storey Sea Homes apartments at Nerul on February 8.

PV Jadhav, chief fire officer NMMC,said,“Astherearemany high-rises in NMMC area, we need to be well-equipped to deal with fire mishaps. A budget of ₹36 crore has been allotted to upgrade the fire system. We will buy a bronto skylift, a powerful water sprinkler and a robot.”

Residents suggested educating people and companies so that buildings are fire compliant.

“More firefighting equipment isneededbutthe firedepartment needs to act against those who don’t comply with fire norms,” said Ravi Srivastava, a Kharghar-based activist.

“The fire audit is not regular in many buildings. There are many irregularities in many commercial as well as residential buildings but the civic body has ignored this,” he said.

As per norms, every housing society should renew its fire no-objection certificate (NOC) twice a year. Hospitals, hotels and pubs must renew it once a year.

Meanwhile, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) has added a 70-metrehigh Bronto Skylift which can reach up to 22 floors. According to Cidco, this is the tallest Bronto Skylift in Navi Mumbai.

› Some of the malls have flouted the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning norms by not leaving enough space on the service road for ambulances. VIKRANT CHAVAN , Congress corporator in TMC

Manyhigh-riseshavecomeup in newly developed nodes such asKhargharandKamotheandin case of any fire, it becomes difficult to douse the blaze with small bronto lifts. Cidco’s old skylift canreachupto32metresoreight floors of a building.

Arvind Mandke, chieffireofficer of Cidco, said, “Staffers have to be trained to operate the hightech skylift. We will start operating it after March 15.”

Sudhir Dani, a city-based activist, said, “The new skylift will help in dousing fires in highrises but problem may arise in congested areas. We need vehicles which can easily enter narrow lanes. The existing firefighting system at Cidco is more than 30 years old and they need to be renewed,” said Dani.