The Department of Fire and Rescue Services has detected violations of fire safety norms at the Gold Souk Grande, Vyttila, and will write to the District Collector to convey its opinion that the shopping mall complex poses a threat to the lives of people visiting it.
Inspections by the department officials revealed violations of fire safety norms at the mall. Sources told The Hindu on Wednesday that the decision to write a letter to the District Collector was taken after the mall management failed to install even basic fire fighting measures despite repeated reminders. The department sent a notice on June 28 directing the authorities to install a scientific fire fighting system without delay.
A team of Fire and Rescue Services officials visited the shopping mall complex on Wednesday to ascertain the status of the fire-safety measures.
However, the resident director of the shopping mall Abu Backer told The Hindu that all necessary fire safety measures will be in place within the prescribed time.
He said workers were already working at rectifying the shortcomings. “We have informed the head office of the Fire and Rescue Services Department that all safety measures will be implemented soon”, he added.
Meanwhile, sources claimed that it was the lack of fire safety installations that resulted in a car, which caught fire accidentally, getting completely gutted at the mall’s parking space last month.
Investigating officers alleged that a notice was sent to the mall management asking them to plug the holes in the fire safety mechanism immediately. But no action was taken forcing the Fire and Rescue Services to initiate follow-up action.
A report prepared by the department said that the fire fighting system at the mall had broken down, the wet riser system was not working and the fire sprinkler system (an active fire protection measure) was missing.
Fire and Rescue Service officials also found the alarm system and the hydrant valve dysfunctional.
Though the mall had a fire pump room it was found ‘switched off’.
No trained staff
No trained personnel were on duty at the pump room during the inspection in violation of the prescription for round-the-clock surveillance.
