After a week-long audit of commercial eating establishments by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) officials, the West Bengal Fire Department is conducting an audit of 29 shopping malls across the state. These include prominent malls in the city to check whether fire safety compliance and fire safety equipment are functional and other safety measures are in place. The malls include Westside at various locations, Forum, City Centre 1 and 2, Quest Mall, and South City malls.
The move also comes after a fire at Hotel Shikha Inn on Free School Street on August 19, killed nine, including five Bangladeshis. Fire safety norms were flouted, leading to an audit and shutdowns of more than 900 guest houses and hotels in the KMC jurisdiction, with promises of fast-tracking the re-opening of these establishments.
The two-day inspection, which started on Wednesday, checks whether relevant licences are in place. Mock fire drills were conducted, and fire department officials asked authorities at shopping malls to keep all exit points open at all times during the day. There was also emphasis on checking the load on ACs, as most fires start due to short circuits.
These checks come a month before the festive season of Durga Puja, when people flock to markets and shopping malls to purchase new clothes and other apparel. Retail shopping continues post-Durga Puja into the festive season of Diwali and Lakshmi Puja. The fire safety audit is also being done in restaurants and food courts within the malls. These include the entry and exit of the malls, seating capacity, and checking whether relevant documents are in place.
If irregularities are found, steps will be taken by the state government similar to those taken in the case of commercial eating establishments – it resulted in the suspension of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) licences of 40 eateries, including big names like Don Giovanni's, Kareem's, Kurry Patta, Zepto, Balaram Mullick and M/S Girish Chandra Dey.
One godown of food delivery app Zepto was inspected and suspended, along with sweet shops, which the KMC commissioner termed a big disappointment, as Bengal is known for sweet manufacturing and consumption. The demand for sweets increases manifold during the festive season. The 40 establishments have to get their hygiene and food safety compliance in order before reapplying to KMC for their FSSAI licenses. There is no timeline given by KMC.
KMC conducted audits at 582 commercial establishments during the week-long exercise and also issued refrain notices to 89 such establishments, which also included big names. Section 38 notices were issued to 112 establishments. Restaurants, hotels, social clubs, food delivery godowns, and other eateries were inspected by KMC.
