A day after a fire in a rooftop pub in Mumbai claimed 14 lives, the State’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services cracked down on rooftop pubs and bars in Indiranagar which were functioning without a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the department.
They have served notices to ‘illegal high-rise buildings’ without fire NOCs, said officials. They will be given 15 days to comply with the norms, failing which an order will be issued to close them down, said M.N. Reddi, DGP Fire and Emergency Services, in a tweet.
Notices were issued on Saturday to Vapour, Sherlock, Pecos, Humming Tree, Tipsy Bull, Escape Room and Spa — all in Indiranagar, said the police. Similar notices have been issued to Barbeque Nation, Basil Monarch, Tubey Bar, RN Square, Barleyz Bar and Equinox Indraprastha in Koramangala.
Fire department officials visited all high rises — buildings exceeding a height of 15 metres — in which restaurants, pubs and bars were operating, focussing on Indiranagar and Koramangala, to check compliance with fire safety norms as per the National Building Code of India (NBC) Fire and Life Safety, and the local zonal regulations.
The officials not only inspected built-in fire safety modalities in buildings, such as smoke detectors, water sprinklers, alarms emergency exits, but also installation of at least 10 different fire fighting equipments at strategic locations in the buildings.
“We have to cover the maximum possible high rises in the city before New Year’s Eve to ensure safe festivities. Omen will finish the job by Sunday morning,” said Soumendu Mukherjee, IGP and Additional Director, Fire and Emergency Services.
Fire Department sources said a majority of pubs, bars and restaurants situated in high rises in Indiranagar and Koramangala do not follow fire safety norms. Residents of Indiranagar had submitted a list of all the rooftop pubs and restaurants in the area to the Fire Department. The list was also given to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) a few days ago.
Rajkumar Pillai, president, Indiranagar Second Stage Resident Welfare Association, said, “We have given a list of all the rooftop bars and restaurants and how they are a big threat to residents. A majority of them are next to residential complexes. Out of 100 bars in Indiranagar, more than 30 are on the terrace.”
‘BBMP will cancel OCs of unauthorised pubs’
The BBMP too promised action. Mayor R. Sampath Raj said, “Last week in the council, we had called for a meeting of the officials of the fire and safety department. In the wake of the Mumbai fire incident, we want to ensure that there are no such mishaps in the city. Our officials are co-ordinating with the fire and safety personnel. They are also issuing notices from the Palike’s end. We have told the fire services department that if they give us a list of establishments that are functioning in violation of safety norms, we will cancel their OCs.”
