Karnataka: No fire safety, dept locks up apartment

BENGALURU: In a first of its kind move by the state fire and emergency department, the officials have seized a high rise building for not following fire safety guidelines, even after repeated reminders for the last one year.

Janardhan Sun City in Seenappa Layout on New BEL Road was seized on Friday by the fire department officials. This is the first time in the state where a building has been seized for not complying with fire safety guidelines.

An fire department official told Deccan Chronicle that as per the Supreme Court order, the department had inspected Janardhan Sun City among many other high rise buildings last year.

“It was found that the building, which has basement, ground floor and seven floors, has violated many guidelines. The front portion of the building has several commercial establishments, including a pizza outlet and a gym. Besides, about 50 families are staying in the residential part. The builder, Ajay Srinivas, had constructed a swimming pool on the terrace and the locked the door, blocking the entry to the terrace. Besides this, there were many other violations,” the official said.

The builder was issued notices several times and twice criminal complaint was registered against him in the police station. “As he did not make the suggested changes, we had written to the Bescom for power disconnection and it was done a month ago.

Also, the BBMP was asked to withdraw the occupancy certificate. Meanwhile, it came to our notice that the builder had provided electricity using generator. After informing the local police, the fire department officials seized the building on Friday,” said N.R. Markandeya, Deputy Director of the fire and emergency department. However, the families staying there have been given 30 days’ time to set the things right and power has been restored for their houses, he added.