A preliminary inquiry into last week’s Surat fire tragedy has revealed that the second exit staircase of the four-storeyed commercial building was blocked that led to high casualty. The inquiry report which was prepared by Principal Secretary (Urban Development Department) Mukesh Puri, said that the high casualty could have been averted had the second exit staircase, which was 5-feet-wide, not been blocked.
According to Puri’s report, the fire was triggered by a spark in an outer unit of an air conditioner. He said that spark engulfed an electronic advertisement display unit and flex banners. The blaze quickly reached the third and fourth floors and the students in the coaching center couldn’t escape. He, however, added that exact reason behind the blaze was still under investigation by the power company and forensic department officials.
“Main reason for such a big number of deaths was that the building had a second, 5-ft-wide, RCC staircase. It was blocked…in short, whoever blocked that staircase, he/she has committed a criminal act. Had it been there, if not all, most deaths could have been saved,” Puri told reporters on Monday. The report was submitted to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani which also pointed out many such loopholes and lapses while recommending a number of policy initiatives.
According to police, the Friday’s incident on the fourth floor of Takshashila Arcade in Sarthana area where a coaching institute was located claimed 22 lives, including 18 girls. As many as 30 others suffered injuries in the tragedy. Police said that many had died after they jumped off from the top floor to escape the fire.
Also, Puri said that the fourth floor where coaching center was located, was only seven feet high and inflammable materials like designer tyres were used for sitting instead of chairs. He added that there was no ventilation which caused suffocation.
Puri noted that the building was registered under the residential layout and it was regularised in 2015 after the introduction of the Impact Fee law in 2011. He informed that there was clear-cut negligence on the part of physical inspection by a concerned engineer who granted clearance to the building under the new law. He said that photographs presented at the time of approval had a dome structure and only three floors were shown in the application. He said that there was no mention of the fourth floor, adding that the physical inspection was a responsibility of engineer and it was not done.
“The lapse in approval is evident…It will be probed if when was this mezzanaine (fourth) floor was constructed,” he said.
According to Puri, the corporation on Sunday night filed a criminal complaint for making a false declaration in an application for approval against responsible persons. Also, a deputy engineer of Town Planning Department of the civic body has been suspended for issuing a certificate of regularisation to the owners of the building in 2015. The official has been identified as Veenu Parmar. He was in charge of Varachha zone in 2015 when the SMC had given a certificate of regularisation.
Meanwhile, the Surat Municipal Corporation has suspended two fire officers for granting a no-objection certificate to the building. So far, the owner of the coaching class has been arrested by the police and the owners of the building are still at large. The suspended officials have been identified as city’s Deputy Chief Fire Officer SK Acharya and Fire Officer Kirti Modh on charges of not taking action against the Takshashila Arcade for violation of fire safety norms.