TNN | Mumbai | Feb 11, 2018 | 07.45 IST
MUMBAI: In the aftermath of the Kamala Mills fire that left 14 dead, the BMC has finalized tougher guidelines for granting licences to eateries and asked its buildings and factory (B&F) department engineers to examine the legality of a structure before granting an NOC. Till the fire, engineers issued permissions without visiting the premises under the ease of doing business initiative.
All permissions will be cleared within 15 days of the submission of an application if all compliances are in place. The BMC has also decided to request the state government to amend fire safety rules to allow for strong action against those who flout them.
B&F department officials would have to give their feedback to an application within 10 days of its submission or it would be “deemed as granted” and departmental action initiated against them. This is to ensure that officials do not indulge in corrupt practices by delaying permissions.
Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta has asked additional municipal commission I A Kundan to finetune the policy after mentioning the roles and duties of all officials to fix accountability and ensure they do not harass applicants for bribes. It will make it mandatory for B&F department engineers, fire officers and health officers to visit the premises before issuing NOCs to restaurants. Mehta is likely to introduce the policy within two weeks.
Mehta said, “Under the new policy, the B&F department staff will check for irregularities in a structure along with other details. We will ensure that all permissions are issued in a time-bound manner after fixing accountability of the officials. We will adopt a soft approach towards no-flame establishments like coffee shops or sandwich parlours.”
Under the new policy, the BMC is making it mandatory for B&F, fire and health officials to inspect the premises physically before granting NOCs.
According to the earlier rule, only a fire officer could visit the applicant’s premises to examine fire compliance. Thereafter, the applicant needed to submit an application on the BMC portal along with other documents along with the fire NOC. B&F and other departments subsequently issued an NOC without physically inspecting the premises.
The BMC decided to take a relook at the norms for eateries after the Kamala Mills fire in December that started at Mojo’s Bistro and spread to the adjoining 1Above resto-bar. The fire officer had issued an NOC to the resto-bar just a week before the tragedy under the new rooftop policy. Other BMC departments had failed to notice the irregularities as they had not visited the premises.
