Times of IndiaFire in Vashi mall fuels big safety worries
22 May 2008, 0449 hrs IST,
Vijay Singh & Devraj
Dasgupta,TNN
NAVI MUMBAI: Memories of Delhi's ghastly Uphaar fire tragedy, which claimed 59 lives back in 1997, were uppermost on the firemen's minds when they arrived at the City Centre mall on Palm Beach road here at 9 am and saw smoke billowing out of the four-storeyed structure. The inferno was in the food court adjacent to the Cinemax multiplex on the fourth floor. The first show was to begin at 10 am and the mall too was yet to open. Although an entire wing of seven food stalls was gutted, no one was injured. Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the multiplex. Firemen refused to go on record as to the likely cause of the blaze. However, unofficially, they indicated that electrical problems had sparked it off. The incident has brought to light serious shortcomings and irregularities regarding fire safety in the four-storey mall. Navi Mumbai fire chief R T Mhatre told TOI: "The mall's sprinkler systems, where the food court is located, were not on ‘auto mode', which is why the fire flared up and destroyed seven outlets in the food court. If the system could have detected either the smoke or the fire, the water sprinklers would have automatically been triggered and extinguished the fire at the very outset." The fire brigade got the first call from City Centre at 8.50 am on Wednesday; 12 fire engines were rushed over the next one hour. One wing of the food court, made largely of plastic, was gutted and furniture, flooring and mini-pantries reduced to cinders. The food outlets were still smouldering at noon, long after the fire had been doused. The shops were charred beyond recognition. Worse, shops on floors below the food court had their electrical connections badly damaged. "Apart from the faulty sprinklers, we had earlier also noticed that the four fire/emergency exits of each level of the mall were not totally clear of obstacles. On the first floor for example, the Croma shop has come up right at the spot where the fire/emergency exit should be," said Mhatre. He added that because of these discrepancies, the mall has still not been given the final NOC from the fire department. "At present we have only given a provisional and conditional NOC to City Centre; the final NOC will only be given after the mall meets all the fire safety requirements. It is indeed fortunate that there were no customers in the mall at the time of fire," Mhatre said. The mall houses 113 shops and has been operational for the last six months on a conditional NOC from the Navi Mumbai fire brigade. City Centre general manager Shahul H Kader disagreed with Mhatre. "Our sprinkler systems are fully functional, there is no doubt about it. All the four fire exits on each level are also open." Asked why the Croma showroom had come up where one of the fire/emergency exits should be, Kader said: "Yes, one of the exits does pass through the Croma shop; but we will alter it soon as per the fire department's guidelines in order to procure the final NOC."
NAVI MUMBAI: Memories of Delhi's ghastly Uphaar fire tragedy, which claimed 59 lives back in 1997, were uppermost on the firemen's minds when they arrived at the City Centre mall on Palm Beach road here at 9 am and saw smoke billowing out of the four-storeyed structure. The inferno was in the food court adjacent to the Cinemax multiplex on the fourth floor. The first show was to begin at 10 am and the mall too was yet to open. Although an entire wing of seven food stalls was gutted, no one was injured. Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the multiplex. Firemen refused to go on record as to the likely cause of the blaze. However, unofficially, they indicated that electrical problems had sparked it off. The incident has brought to light serious shortcomings and irregularities regarding fire safety in the four-storey mall. Navi Mumbai fire chief R T Mhatre told TOI: "The mall's sprinkler systems, where the food court is located, were not on ‘auto mode', which is why the fire flared up and destroyed seven outlets in the food court. If the system could have detected either the smoke or the fire, the water sprinklers would have automatically been triggered and extinguished the fire at the very outset." The fire brigade got the first call from City Centre at 8.50 am on Wednesday; 12 fire engines were rushed over the next one hour. One wing of the food court, made largely of plastic, was gutted and furniture, flooring and mini-pantries reduced to cinders. The food outlets were still smouldering at noon, long after the fire had been doused. The shops were charred beyond recognition. Worse, shops on floors below the food court had their electrical connections badly damaged. "Apart from the faulty sprinklers, we had earlier also noticed that the four fire/emergency exits of each level of the mall were not totally clear of obstacles. On the first floor for example, the Croma shop has come up right at the spot where the fire/emergency exit should be," said Mhatre. He added that because of these discrepancies, the mall has still not been given the final NOC from the fire department. "At present we have only given a provisional and conditional NOC to City Centre; the final NOC will only be given after the mall meets all the fire safety requirements. It is indeed fortunate that there were no customers in the mall at the time of fire," Mhatre said. The mall houses 113 shops and has been operational for the last six months on a conditional NOC from the Navi Mumbai fire brigade. City Centre general manager Shahul H Kader disagreed with Mhatre. "Our sprinkler systems are fully functional, there is no doubt about it. All the four fire exits on each level are also open." Asked why the Croma showroom had come up where one of the fire/emergency exits should be, Kader said: "Yes, one of the exits does pass through the Croma shop; but we will alter it soon as per the fire department's guidelines in order to procure the final NOC."
