After an initial burst of action, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to go slow in its drive against illegal constructions in city eating-houses. Instead of daily inspections, the civic body will carry out bi-weekly checks on the restaurants and eateries across the city.
Following a major fire at City Kinara Hotel in Kurla, in which eight people lost their lives on October 16, the civic body had decided to act strict against illegal structures in city eating houses.
Accordingly, the drive was carried out to inspect these eateries in terms of encroachments, security arrangements and fire safety.
A team of fire officials in each zone, medical officers and ward officials were asked to check daily at least ten restaurants in each ward of the city.
However, after just three weeks, the civic body has decided to tone down the pace of the drive as officials feel most of the susceptible eating houses in the city have been checked. The ward officials have now been asked to inspect city restaurants only twice a week.
A senior civic official said, “The inspections would now be carried out only twice a week.
For daily checks, an assistant fire officer from the Mumbai Fire Brigade and other ward level officials are required to be on field, which is not feasible every day.
As most of the vulnerable eateries have been covered so far, bi-weekly inspections would suffice to cover remaining restaurants.”
According to civic data, from October 19 to November 5 the BMC has inspected about 2,600 eating houses across the city. Out of this, action has been taken against 2,133 eateries for violating municipal rules and fire safety norms. The civic body has also seized 1,936 gas cylinders in the drive.
Civic officials said while majority of them are grade III eateries, irregularities were also found in grade I restaurants. Major anomalies like absence of fire NoC, using mezzanine floor for service purpose, lack of fire fighting equipment and fire extinguishers, additional alterations in premises, fire norms not complied, operating without fire and health license, using open space for trade purpose were found in these eating houses.
