‘Raze illegal structures, prevent fires'
The Oct 2015 blaze at Hotel City Kinara in Kurla revealed glaring fire safety lapses: Gas pipes crisscrossed the eatery, cylinders were stored on a mezzanine balcony, staircases were dangerously narrow, and the mezzanine itself was illegal. Similarly, the Dec 2017 fire at Kamala Mills that claimed 14 lives at the 1 Above restaurant spread rapidly due to a highly combustible, unauthorised thatched roof—an addition for which no permissions was granted.
The BMC had suspended 5 officials after the blaze.
Niranjan Shetty, chairman of Ahar (Association of Hotels and Restaurants), said, "Authorised eateries largely comply with fire safety norms, as they know non-compliance invites strict action. But there's a clear trend—most fire incidents involve unauthorised structures or illegal extensions. That's where enforcement needs to tighten."
The inquiry into the recent fire at a Bandra mall pointed out that the firefighting system was manual, not automatic, highlighting gaps in safety infrastructure in commercial spaces.
Nicholas Almeida of Watchdog Foundation said after the Kinara fire, the BMC cracked down on illegal eateries and roadside cooking. "But a decade later, open cooking continues. Ward level officials can act against this."tnn
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Indian Express
Bombay HC orders top 18 floors Tardeo-high-rise residents to vacate flats without Occupation Certificate
The Bombay High Court has directed 'selfish' residents occupying the top 18 floors of a 34-storey tower in Tardeo, south Mumbai, having no Occupation Certificate (OC) to vacate their premises within two weeks and also raised concerns over no fire NOC for the entire high-rise. Failing which, the BMC will be free to take any action under notices issued by it as per law. The Court said residents of the Willingdon View Cooperative Housing Society, while indulging in 'brazen illegalities' for years, were least bothered about their own and others' lives. 'There being no fire No Objection Certificate (NOC), no OC for 17 to 34 floors, itself is glaring. It appears that the persons who are occupying the 34 storied building are least bothered about their own lives, if this be so, how can they be bothered about anybody else, in the event of any untoward incident of any nature taking place,' the HC observed. 'Such an approach which is wholly contrary to law, cannot be countenanced, in fact, it would set an example to perpetuate illegalities. It needs to be deprecated,' The Court clarified that the said persons will be entitled to occupy respective flats or tenements on 17th to 34th floor 'only after OC is granted' by following due process of law. A bench of Justices Girish S Kulkarni and Arif S Doctor passed an order on July 15 (Tuesday) while hearing a batch of pleas pertaining to the high-rise occupied by 50 flat purchasers of total 62 flats, which was made available on Saturday night. The bench rejected a request by senior advocate Dinyar Madon for housing society that sought stay on operation of the order citing Supreme Court order in Campa Cola case. The HC noted that during earlier hearings, the members occupying 'illegal' flats from 17 to 34 floors were 'emphatically' told to make alternate arrangements. The bench further said that there cannot be a plea 'more audacious' than the one seeking permission to occupy flats without OC as it would lead to 'regime of complete lawlessness.' Senior advocate S U Kamdar for BMC said it had issued several notices in respect of 17 to 34 floors to vacate their premises and said that the construction was required to be restored in conformity with originally submitted plans He argued that permitting occupancy on 17 to 34 floors would be against the law and in fact the entire building was required to be sealed for not having fire NOC. The HC said that while it will hear the plea in regard to those who occupy 1st to 16th floors having part-OC during next hearing, the BMC 'shall stay its hands in resorting to any demolition, under the notices and insofar as the illegal constructions in respect of which notices were issued.' However, Justice Kulkarni for the bench 'unreservedly' noted that in view of its observations and earlier orders, it 'did not approve the members continuing their occupation in the absence of the Fire NOC to the building even in regard to the 1st to 16th floors which has no fire clearance or approval from the Fire Department, by way of a Fire NOC.' The HC refused a plea to continue the earlier interim protection order of March 20, 2025 for another year to take corrective measures for regularisation and vacated the same. 'We would be justified to say that the flat purchasers who have taken law into their own hands in occupying construction which has no OC, are a selfish lot, who not only with open eyes are acting contrary to the building regulations but also have means, to defeat legal actions being taken by BMC, by indulging in several statutory violations, which can never be permitted,' the judges recorded. 'Merely for the reason that the developer, and the society and its members have resources in abundance, to first resort to illegalities and then by every possible means try to protect the illegalities ought not to prevent the Municipal Corporation to take an appropriate action as the law mandates,' the HC added and posted further hearing to July 29.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
ACB arrests two for taking bribe
Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday arrested a BMC official, Harikrishna Adimoolam from the accounts department of M-East ward, and booked a junior engineer for accepting a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a civil contractor. In a separate case, a senior official from the revenue department, Dayanand Chavan, was arrested for accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a flat purchaser. tnn
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Mithi desilting scam probe to cover silt removal since 2006
Mumbai: The scope of the investigation into the Mithi river desilting scam will be expanded. While earlier the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was looking at irregularities for only three years, it will now examine the quantum of silt removed from 2006 onwards, said industries minister Uday Samant in the legislative council on Thursday. "It will reveal how remote control duped Mumbai," said Samant. The issue was raised again through a calling attention motion by BJP MLC Prasad Lad, who first brought up the issue leading to the setting up of the SIT. Highlighting the seriousness of the matter, Lad demanded that the investigation into this scam be extended right from 2012, adding the scam may be worth over Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 crore. You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Samant said for three years the SIT examined 3.4 lakh photographs and could see only dumpers but no silt. He further said the norms for dumping silt were changed in 2012. "Till 2012, the silt would go to the Deonar dumping ground where even today it is possible to know how much has been dumped since 1930. In 2012, the norms allowed dumping on private sites. Since 2006, Rs 331.73 crore have been spent on the Mithi River desilting work. We have currently checked expenditure from the year 2019 to 2024. The period from 2006 is still to be probed and it will be done," he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Could Be the Best Time to Trade Gold in 5 Years IC Markets Learn More Undo Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab objected to the issue being repeatedly raised in the House. "Probe all, investigate everyone. But do not be lenient on those who come for your mercy. There should be equal justice to all," said Parab, pointing out that many leaders who were part of the BMC standing committee and passed the tenders were now with the ruling alliance. Bhai Jagtap of Congress said that the MCOCA should also be applied to the arrested contractors and engineers of the BMC. Reading out the names of the accused, Samant said Jai Joshi was out on bail while the mastermind Ketan Kadam, who owns nightclubs and other properties, is in judicial custody. "Ketan Kadam has a partner called Santino Morea. We want to assure the people of Mumbai, no guilty individual will be left out in the open. We will ensure that SIT will expose how 'remote control' duped Mumbai," said Samant.
