Shopping malls under Fire Services scanner

Bhubaneswar: After the Kamala Mills tragedy in Mumbai and a major fire mishap at a market complex in Bhubaneswar, Odisha Fire Services special teams started conducting fire safety review on various shopping malls on Saturday.

Ten special teams of the fire services department today reviewed the fire safety measures at 10 major shopping malls in Bhubaneswar.

Sources said, the teams are inspecting whether the shopping malls are adhering to basic fire safety norms or not. Particularly, various aspects including installation of fire extinguishers, entry and exit routes, necessary approvals from Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and other warning systems are being verified.

A senior official requesting anonymity stated that notices will be issued to the shopping malls if they are found to be violating fire safety norms and asked to comply within a specific deadline.

Earlier, the Fire Services department had conducted similar exercises at various hotels, clubs ahead of the New Year celebrations in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri in December last year.