Nearly 500 restaurants, including those in posh Khan Market and Hauz Khas Village, are under the scanner of the Delhi government officials for lacking basic fire safety measures.
While the Capital boasts of several hundreds of restaurants ranging from niche eateries like those located in Hauz Khas Village and Khan Market to ordinary ones in Paharganj, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) reportedly found gaping holes in the fire safety system in many of these restaurants.
The DPCC officials said that they had not given a Consent To Operate (CTO) certificate to nearly 500 restaurants in the Capital. Sources in the DPCC also revealed that most of the restaurants deliberately declare their seating capacity under 48 persons to avoid the hassles coming with the lengthy procedure in getting a fire clearance certificate.
“In order to avoid getting into the procedure of obtaining a fire clearance, most of the restaurants do not declare their exact seating capacity. Some of these restaurants also have an adjoining terrace area which can seat people. They just tell the authorities that their premises can accommodate 15-20 people without declaring the terrace or the adjoining area as part of the restaurant.
Because of this malpractice, most of them end up doing business without getting a fire clearance,” a senior Delhi government official said. In the dingy alleys of Hauz Khas Village and cobbled paths of Khan Market, where restaurants follow a matchbox set up and there is no space between the eateries, a single fire – the officials said – could wipe out the entire area especially in Khan Market. (Source: Security Today)
Likewise, restaurants are stacked one on top of the other in Hauz Khas Village. With just a single entry and the same doubling up as an exit, there is little room for the people in the entire building to find a way out in case of a blaze. Officials also stated that it was imperative for the restaurants to have a proper sprinkler system and enough space for fire tenders to move in at the time of an emergency.
Last year, more than 40 restaurants in Hauz Khas Village were forced to shut down temporarily after they were found not complying with all the norms required for getting environment clearance.
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