NMC, industry differ whether cold storages are factories or godowns

Nagpur: Vidarbha Cold Storage Association (VCSA) has approached the director of industries (DoI) and termed the fire and emergency services department’s action declaring cold storages unsafe as illegal.
In a memorandum to the joint director of industries Ashok Dharmadhikari, association secretary Prakash Goyal has sought the department’s intervention, arguing that the government was making attempts to promote cold storages and SSI units. However, civic agencies like Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) were actively seeking closure of well-established and legal industrial units for reasons best known to them.
Following a couple of fire incidents in cold storages, and subsequent orders from the high court, NMC’s fire department conducted firefighting audit of around 17 cold storage units in NMC limits and Nagpur Metro Region Development Authority (NMRDA).
The inspections revealed lack of firefighting arrangements, following which the department declared all the cold storages unsafe and sealed a couple of units. “Since last five years, the NMC fire department cited provisions of Maharashtra Fire Act 2006 and repeatedly threatened to close down various member-units of our association,” the memorandum stated.
Goyal said the Maharashtra Fire Services directorate has many times informed NMC that the said act is not applicable to buildings constructed before the act came into force. Now, all our member units which were threatened with closure were established well before the act came into force, and have repeatedly informed NMC’s fire department as well as NIT, he said.
“Considering our moral obligation, our members have also gone ahead and voluntarily added various firefighting measures as directed from time to time,” Goyal pointed out.
The association members said a cold storage is wrongly treated as storage building or godown, while it is a factory having SSI registration. As per Factories Act 2006 factories can have height up to 24m while the civic agencies are misinterpreting another act to limit height of cold storages to 15m.
They also said NMC has, in a completely illegal action, directed the department of industrial safety and health to suspend renewal of factory licenses citing lack of compliances under Maharashtra Fire Act 2006.
The director of industries has sought NMC fire department’s opinion in the matter.