Kamala Mills building fire: Hotel, restaurant associations admit need for improving safety measures

Mumbai: Following the devastating fire that burned out 14 lives in earlier in the day, hotels and restaurants associations on Friday admitted that there a need for better infrastructure, particularly for fire safety. [caption id=“attachment_4280657” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A view of the building in which a fire broke out in Mumbai. PTI[/caption] “The Mumbai fire incident reiterates the need for improving infrastructure conditions, in particular fire safety,” National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) president Rahul Singh said in a statement. The association will continue to engage with the states on how best to improve the fire safety measures so as to prevent such type of recurrences in future, he added. “As an immediate step, we are convening a meeting to explore possible avenues for improving and strengthening fire safety measures in our sector,” Singh said. On a long-term basis, the association will be exploring the possibility of launching a programme to address occupational safety and health conditions, including adequate fire safety and training mechanisms, he said. “We also hope to learn from the conclusions reached by the different government committees instituted to investigate this particular fire incident,” he added. Echoing a similar view, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India president Dilip Datwani told PTI that the association will issue an immediate advisory for all its members and other stakeholders to do self-audits and take precautionary measures, including checking electrical equipments, to avoid such tragedy in future. He also said it is always not fair to blame the civic authority BMC, as many establishments indulge in many additions after getting the no objection certificate. “We are very strict and before adding any new members we ensure they have all licences are in place. Our committee members also conduct inspection of the outlets,” he said.