Fire station officer (Civil Lines) Ashok Phulsunge expressed concern over the lack of fire equipment in the residential-cum-commercial complex. He wondered why the six-storey building, which has eight shops and 17 flats, has not obtained no-objection certificates from the fire and emergency services department of the NMC.
Chief fire officer Chandrashekhar Jadhav too said that there is lack of willingness among builders and residents to comply with fire safety norms. He also claimed that the fire department officials often served notices to multi-storey apartments and complexes on the basis of a fire safety survey. However, very few had responded, said the CFO. He also pointed out that flat owners also sought relief from the fire safety norms on the grounds that they cannot afford the expenditure towards installation of fire fighting equipment.
Residents of high rise buildings alleged that serving notices would not ensure safety to the occupants of multistory apartments. Nitin Guralwar, a resident of Himalaya Accord, wondered how fire department sanctions building plans without inspecting whether fire fighting equipment is being installed or not. He pointed out that this six-storey building was constructed in 1995 without any fire exit.
Secretary of the building Amol Patil pointed out that shops in the building were violating a number of norms. "We have complained a number of times to NMC's town planning department and even to the anti-encroachment department that the shops are encroaching the passage area, but they didn't pay attention to us. The clinic which caught fire today had even sealed off the emergency exit at the back of the shop which prevented the fire fighters from reaching the source. These shops have generators aligned with the building walls. If the fire had spread further, this could have led to a major disaster."
The hypothetical question of how firemen would have rescued residents if the fire had engulfed the entire building seems to have few answers.
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