Bhubaneswar: The Esplande One mall at Rasulgarh here which was recently thrown open to public in a haphazard manner was found to be blatantly violating several fire safety norms, posing threat to thousands of visitors thronging the business centre every day.
The issue assumes significance as the Capital city has witnessed a horrific fire tragedy at SUM Hospital in 2016 in which 22 lives were perished. A visit to the swanky shopping mall, hosting a number of branded stores to cater to the tastes of myriad customers, reveals startling facts hinting at compromise with the fire safety norms of the state government.
The ‘callous’ nature of the mall management in ensuring the safety of the visitors is evident from the fact that basic provisions meant to ensure safety of visitors during emergency situations are absent. The Odisha Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Rules- 2017, issued by the Odisha government through a Gazette Notification, charts out the mandatory requirements to be met by shopping malls in Odisha to ensure visitors’ safety. The mall management, however, is now seen blatantly flouting many norms of the fire safety guidelines.
Although the mall has a number of firefighting equipment like manual fire button, fire hose, sprinklers and automatic fire detector, it lacks many other safety norms.
Section 17 of the fire safety norms says, “Photo copies of the Fire Safety Certificate issued by the Fire Services department shall be framed and displayed at all conspicuous places including all the corridors and lobbies of all floors in all towers or blocks of the premises for information of general public.” However, a reality check by Orissa POST at the mall Sunday revealed that not a single place inside the mall had any such certificate for public display.
The Odisha Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Rules also say that there should not be any obstruction on the way of driveway and emergency exit ways. However, on account of the ongoing construction of several stores inside, the emergency exists at several corners were seen blocked or obstructed with temporary structures.
At some places, the space around fire extinguishers was also crowded with other furniture, which would certainly make it tough for the visitors to reach out to them during emergency situations. Some doors hosting the fire noose and other fire equipment at some floors were also obstructed with the makeshift covers of the upcoming stores of the mall, which makes sure any person during an emergency would find it a Herculean task to utilise the same.
Piles of under-construction material were also seen in the vicinity of the mall. Direction signs for emergency exits were also not found to be evidently shown. Glowing signage of emergency exits was also found missing.
When contacted, an official from the mall management said they have all the required permissions from the authorities including the Fire Safety Certificate and they abide by all the norms. However, he was reluctant to respond much on specific questions.
A top official from the Directorate of Fire Services told Orissa POST that the department has been issuing notices to the erring bodies regularly who flout the fire safety norms. However, the official refrained from commenting on the issue on record.
