20160424 India Khan Market fire raises fresh queries
India Apr 23 2016 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Khan Market fire raises fresh queries
Updated: 2016-04-24-00:31
A fire broke out at a restaurant in Khan Market on Saturday and, while it was quickly brought under control, the incident again brought into focus the urgent need to put safety measures in place.
With the upscale market’s redevelopment plan pending for over three years now, trader association members say an Uphaar-like tragedy can’t be ruled out. Though the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had prepared a detailed redevelopment plan, in consultation with the two market associations in the area a long time back, there has been no movement on the ground.
The focus of the plan was on addressing the fire safety concerns, considering that most restaurants there are housed on the first floor and have narrow access routes. Fire department officials said 90% of the restaurants at the market have licence for a seating capacity of less than 50 and, so, they don’t require an NOC from them.
Saturday’s fire, albeit a minor one, broke out on the terrace of a restaurant around 10.15am. The place is teeming with guests from 12 noon onwards. The cause of the blaze was short circuit from an exhaust fan and was doused within minutes by fire extinguishers. Two fire tenders were also rushed to the spot. The restaurant staff said there was no damage from the fire.
Atul Garg, deputy director, Delhi Fire Services, confirmed that there were no casualties.
Sources in the Delhi Fire Services, however, said most of the restaurants at Khan Market don’t have adequate firefighting system in place. “LPG gas pipelines make it an even more dangerous situation.”
Market association members said while the Delhi Fire Services department had approved the NDMC measures, there has been no movement on them since then. The civic agency had also planned to develop centralised air conditioning, an underground water-tank for round-the-clock supply and underground multilevel parking.
An NDMC official said, “There has been no movement on the project as the case is pending in court.”
As per the approved plan, the civic agency was to construct a walkway on the second floor by connecting all the 74 flats that now have restaurants. The 9-ft-wide walkway would connect the two main blocks of the market.
Sanjiv Mehra, president of KMTA, said, “As per the plan, the walkway will have nine exit points (landings)—five in the front and four at the back. The landings of exit points will be strategically located around the market and will be connected to the walkway through bridges.”
These exits will open in the existing parking lots on both sides of the market. “As the entire second floor will be connected, people can easily leave in case of an emergency,” said Mehra.
The fire safety concerns at Khan Market were raised by a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee headed by Bhure Lal in 2011. Though NDMC had proposed a solution for creating fire exits, it wasn’t accepted by the Khan Market Traders’ Association (KMTA) and Khan Market Welfare Association (KMWA).
The NDMC also tried to rope in DMRC as a consultation partner but wasn’t successful.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Khan-Market-fire-raises-fresh-queries/articleshow/51961074.cms