Mangalore: 'The Trade Centre' Fire - Post-disaster Pangs for Occupants
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Aug 14: Amit Kumar, manager of J P Lightings, the godown belonging to which, located in 'The Trade Centre' in the city, had caught fire on Wednesday, said in a complaint filed with the Bunder police station here, that the firm suffered losses to the tune of Rs 90 lac due to the fire accident. The firm is owned by Philomena Manezes. The complaint attributes the cause of the accident to electrical short circuit.
The fire has opened up cracks in the walls of Hotel Maharaja International located in the first floor of the building and Cholamandalam Finance, functioning in the second floor, because of the heat generated by the razing fire. The godown of J P lightings is located in the mezzanine floor that is sandwiched between the first and the second floors of the building. For accessing this floor, which is just seven-feet high, one has to bend and the entire mezzanine floor is occupied by this lone godown.
The cleaning operations of the offices of different concerns located in the building began on Thursday. The power distribution system of the building was burnt down in the fire, as a result of which, there is no power supply to some of the floors. As there is no water supply, concerns functioning in the building, have been asked not to make use of the toilets. Some of the offices worked with generators, while some others temporarily shifted their operations elsewhere. Hotel Maharaja manager Sridhar said, it might take a few days before the restaurant becomes operational, as power supply restoration might take several days. It is learnt, no-objection certificate from the Fire Brigade has been made mandatory for the building, before the power supply is restored.
Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services IGP and additional director general P A Sandhu and director, B G Chengappa, visited the building on Wednesday night. They also visited the office of the deputy commissioner, superintendent of police and the two fire brigades located in Pandeshwar and Kadri in the city, on Thursday. Reportedly, they have noted that the building having 10 floors up to the rooftop, has stair case at only one place and people normally use the two lifts provided to them. No motor was provided to the water sump at the bottom and the sump did not have enough water, the team noted.
Sandhu said that out of the 73 applications relating to multistoried buildings received from the city, 37 have been declined. Out of the 36 buildings permitted, completion certificate has been issued to two buildings, while others are being inspected, he added. For a 15-metre high building, normally a 12-metre wide road and three-fourth setback have to be provided. The building that suffered from fire did not confirm to architectural rules and had not applied for the no-objection certificate from the fire department. It was noticed during the visit on Wednesday, that no fire safety equipments were in place, he explained.
The three fire personnel injured during the operation on Wednesday were discharged from the hospital on Thursday. District deputy commissioner Ponnuraj said that a meeting of builders, developers and the other concerned will be convened soon, to discuss safety measures in multistoried buildings.
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