The district administration has decided to close down all shops on the S.M. Street that have failed to comply with the mandatory safety precautions, using the provisions of the Disaster Management Act.
This follows an inspections of the shops in the area after the deadline for complying with the safety norms ended on Tuesday.
The inspection team comprising officials from the Fire and Rescue Services, Electrical Inspectorate, Kerala State Electricity Board, Kozhikode Corporation and Revenue Department was led by District Collector U.V. Jose.
“The closure procedures will begin on Wednesday. Today we have inspected 62 shops. The inspection will continue in the coming days. The shops that have not complied with the orders will be shut down within a week,” Mr. Jose told The Hindu .
Previously, more than 300 shops in the area had been served notices for failing to stick to the fire and safety precautions after a massive fire broke out at a two-storey textile building last month on the S.M. Street.
KVVES stance
The Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti (KVVES) had tried to oppose the inspection saying that the shops had been adhering to the norms cited in the D&O (Dangerous and Offensive Trades and Factories) licence issued by the City Corporation. During a random inspection earlier, the Kozhikode Corporation had also issued show cause notices to 50 shops and warnings to 100 other commercial establishments for flouting building, fire safety and trading rules.
There are about 1,300 shops in the S.M. Street area. An initial inspection shortly after the fire revealed that many licensees had made separate partitions of a building to conduct different businesses. Some shops had also encroached on the pavement and even the road.
Each department had submitted individual reports. However, the collector had asked for a detailed assessment of the S.M. Street. It was found that majority of the shops did not equip themselves with fire extinguishers. Fire safety norms had not been followed on multi-storey buildings. Besides, many of them did not have proper wiring and electrical installation had been done unscientifically.
