A day after one person died in a major fire at the A1 Samrat Ashok CHS building in Mahalaxmi, DNA has noticed flagrant flouting of fire safety norms in four other buildings in the same compound. A senior fire department official confirmed that the towers were served a notice in October this year, as was the tower that caught fire on Sunday.
DNA visited the society on Monday, and found that the refuge areas on the 12th floor had been locked, while those on the sixth floor had been converted into temporary houses and given out to people.
Moreover, staircases were encroached upon with household goods, including tables, beds, cycles, ladders and water tanks. A box on the ground floor which is meant to house the water hose pipe was full of liquor bottles and other litter. The emergency exit was inaccessible from several floors, packed with household items, and locked out on the first floor.
“Not a single thing is in place. People have stocked things wherever possible. They believe keeping the fire duct intact is a waste of space,” said a fire official.
“There is open disregard to rules in these towers. There is infighting between members, and since most senior residents are uneducated, they lack awareness. They stock their personal items in the common areas without thinking twice. They were served a notice for flouting fire safety norms, but they didn’t do anything. Even now, after the fire, they aren’t willing to learn,” said Amit Maru, a social activist whose relatives live in the affected building.
Hemant Parab, deputy chief fire officer, said, “Along with the A1 Samrat Ashok CHS, we had also served notices to other towers in that complex for flouting regulations in October.”
Several fire safety violations were observed in the high-rise that caught fire on Sunday. The violations were observed on October 10, while a notice was also issued on October 22.