Vikhe-Patil to BMC inspects move HC 2,568 joints for CBI probe in last 14 days
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Friday said he will move the Bombay High Court seeking CBI probe into the Kamala Mills compound fire.
Addressing a press conference here, he said a PIL in this regard will be filed next week. Vikhe Patil also alleged that the BhimaKoregaon violence was a statesponsored riot and demanded that the judicial probe into the violence should be monitored by the high court.
“I will move the Bombay High Court seeking CBI probe into the Kamala Mills compound fire,” Vikhe Patil said. He said a Congress delegation will also meet Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, seeking suspension of BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta. The opposition leader said the government had entrusted the inquiry into the Kamala Mills fire to Mehta.
“This is ideological bankruptcy. How can you ask the Commissioner to probe the fire, which has been caused due to corruption in the civic body, apathy of the government and inefficiency of the commissioner himself,” Vikhe Patil asked.
“Provision of section 302 of IPC (punishment for murder) should have been invoked against Mehta and he should have been suspended,” Vikhe Patil said. In the last fourteen days, between December 30, 2017 to January 12, 2018, 52 squads of the civic corporation have inspected 2,568 hotels and other eatery outlets all over Mumbai to check for fire safety lapses and illegal constructions.
The BMC has tightened its inspection drive on hotels, eateries only after fourteen people lost their lives in a devastating fire at Kamala Mills compound on December 29, which shook the city and exposed the apathy of the civic body and their negligence towards rising irregularities, as till then all the activities were operating smoothly under their nose without any objection.
Out of 2, 568 inspected hotels and restaurants across Mumbai, 718 hotels have been found flouting fire safety norms and hence asked to fulfill fire safety lapses and notice under Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act and Maharashtra Fire Prevention and life safety measures has been issued. If they fail to comply, action will be taken without any further warning, said the civic officer.
While 89 hotels of different civic wards have been sealed for various irregularities and for imminent fire danger spots, 913 hotels have been demolished for construction of illegal extensions and obstructing fire escape routes and for other violations, added the civic officer.