Mumbai: Malad eateries in soup for flouting fire safety norms

A staffer at Hotel Sheela said they are working after fulfilling the compliance requirements

The fire department has found two eateries adjacent to Malad's Paras Industrial Estate flouting fire safety norms and posing a threat to business establishments in its vicinity.

According to an inspection report filed by Fire Officer S G Naik on March 15, Hotel Sheela and Rajesh Tea and Cold Drinks, located side-by-side had been using LPG cylinders for cooking but could not produce an NOC from the fire department to use the fuel.

The report says both places were found to be using their respective loft areas for storage of food materials and did not have a rear exit door. It says instructions were given to the joints to "stop the above-said trade activity" till they obtained a fire safety compliance certificate from the fire department.

Rajesh Tea and Cold Drinks, which sits next to Hotel Sheela, has put only two tables outside

Orlem resident and RTI activist Sharique Raza Shaikh, who alerted the authorities about the violations, said, "I had seen people gather there in large numbers and not following any norms…the way these restaurants are doing business - that too in an industrial area where the chances of a fire blowing things out of proportion are much higher than in a residential area - by cooking their food outside using LPG cylinders…this made me fearful that a Kamala Mills like situation might arise because both places don't have a NOC." Shaikh, 29, said his complaint spurred officials to inspect the premises.

Fire Officer Naik of Malad Fire Station said they have sent a copy of the inspection report to the ward office. "Joint action will be taken soon. Both places have put up temporary plastic sheds under which they feed people. They have also kept raw materials in their backside passages…and not submitted any requisite documents."

A person running the operations at Sheela Hotel said they are working on fulfilling the compliance norms. Another person at Rajesh Tea and Cold Drinks confirmed that an inspection was carried out by the fire department, but they were yet to get a copy of the report. "We had a word with the fire officer, who told us not to keep all this material and furniture outside…now we only have two tables outside."