India-Forums.TV

[huma]

MUMBAI: The BMC-which is looking into what led to Wednesday's fire at the iconic Bombay House-has no means to prove the building's basement was being used illegally. The reason: the civic body has the structure's records only until 1987. According to that year's records available with the municipal corporation, the structure's layout plan is legal and the use of basement was permitted as is being used currently, officials said.


But, officials said, even if the basement was misused in the period before 1987, it could not be subjected to development control rules (DCR), which came into existence in 1991. Under the DCR, basement use is limited to 'storage and parking'.


Three people suffocated to death and five others were injured after an electrical fire broke out in the basement of the building.


The Fire Brigade's preliminary assessment of the accident site described the internal scene as a 'virtual death trap'.


After the incidenton Wednesday, additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar had said, "The ventilation and access to the basement was blocked due to unauthorized construction."


However, But a quick glance through records showed the building's basement use 'permitted for an a/c auditorium (to a capacity of 343 people and area of 3,656 sq ft), service area, BEST substation, offices of Institute of Science, Tata Sports Club, Tata Sons Ltd'.


"If the structure was permitted certain uses in the basement before 1991s then there cannot be any illegality. In any case, we do not have records to prove their original use beginning 1924 when the building was constructed," said an official.


Fire officials maintained they were not ruling out the possibility of basement actually not having a fire NoC. ; the fire NoC is provided when the structure is adequately ventilated and has all the necessary preventive measures and systems in place.


"We are still checking our records. We have not yet ruled out the possibility of the basement not having a an NoC from the fire department. Only after we check the records can we decide if a notice should be sent to the owners," said chief fire officer Uday Tatkare.