Another towering inferno

It seems the authorities haven’t learnt any lessons from Carlton Towers fire tragedy. Hours after the Gold Tower complex on Residency Road caught fire on Monday noon, top officials of the fire force department claimed the building owner had not obtained a No Objection Certificate (NoC). The BBMP washed its hands off the matter, saying it had issued a notice to the owner. Hundreds of people had a miraculous escape when Gold Tower, near Konark Hotel, was engulfed in flames.According to Jija Hari Singh, DGP, Fire & Emergency Services, the exact cause of the fire was not known as yet. “It is not clear whether the fire broke out when priests were performing pooja or caused by a short-circuit in the pub,” she said.According to eyewitnesses, the fire broke out in the kitchen. Thick smoke enveloped the terrace, where NYK’s Elite Club, a lounge bar, is located. Young men and women, who were partying, rushed down the stairs.The Mayo Hall fire station received information about the fire at around 1.34 pm. Meanwhile, five people had got stuck in the lift as power supply had been stopped. Later, the fire force personnel rescued them.Within minutes of the fire, owners shut their shops inside the building and came on to Residency Road, causing a huge traffic pile-up and even hampering the movement of fire tenders. Traffic jams were witnessed on Richmond Road, St Mark’s Road and in the surrounding areas. Civilians joined hands with the police to regulate movement of vehicles.Fifteen fire tenders and 75 firemen battled for more than an hour to put out the blaze. The fire force personnel, holding water hoses, climbed up the staircase to reach the terrace and douse the fire.P S Sandhu, IGP, Fire and Emergency Force, said combustible materials like bamboo and plastic were used for decorating the pub. Besides gas cylinders, alcohol was stored in huge quantity. “Fortunately, the incident happened during the day. Had it happened in the night, it could have been disastrous,” he said.

No safety measures

Jija Hari Singh said though the complex was a high-rise structure, it had taken no fire safety measures. “We have not sanctioned the NoC. I do not know how it is being allowed to function. BBMP should answer that. Our job is to extinguish the fire and evacuate people to safety We’ve done that.”She has sent a report to the government seeking permission to visit buildings and check the safety apparatus before and after granting the NoC.BBMP health inspector Krishnavardhan, who visited the spot, said a notice had been issued to pub owner Anantha Narayanan objecting to the location of the kitchen on the terrace. “He (Anantha), along with other hotel owners, had gone to the court appealing against the notice,” he said.Siddappaji, a BBMP health officer, said the licence for the pub was obtained in 2006-07. It has been renewed every year since then. The land, owned by the Wakf board, has been leased out to Chetan Tayal. He built Gold Tower and rented out the terrace to Anantha to run the pub