Mangaluru: Fire broke out at the City Centre Mall in the city on Thursday, February 21. As per sources, the fire broke out inside the Food Court on the fourth floor of the building and thick fire soon engulfed the entire mall.
Due to the mishap, KS Rao Road, Light House Hill Road and nearby areas witnessed heavy traffic congestion. Fire personnel have been pressed into action and so far no casualties have been reported.
The witnesses say that panic-stricken people at the mall ran helter-skelter once the thick smoke started emanating and engulfing the mall.
Several cylinders have been stocked up in the mall for the functioning of the reticulated gas connection to the Food Court and several pipes in the mall have already been melted due to the fire.
Meanwhile, it may be recalled that the City Centre mall had become a topic of discussion even when the construction of the mall had begun.
Activists had opposed the construction of mall citing that the builders had violated the National Building Code.
As per sources, the structure still does not have a Fire No Objection Certificate and the Completion Certificate from the Mangaluru City Corporation.
Speaking to newskarnataka.com, activist Vidya Dinker, who was on the fore front of the protests against the City Centre mall said that it is the bureaucrats who are to be held responsible in this entire episode.
She said that the mall was not issued an Occupancy Certificate from the MCC because there is a High Court order that states clearly that no structure that stands in violation of building rules should be given an Occupancy Certificate.
“Yet, when the Mall opened, we had questioned the then DC as to how exactly this was unfurling for the builders of the mall. Our voice was not heard,” she said adding that the officials had supported the real estate lobby at the cost of the safety of the citizens.
The mishap was long pending and I, now feel that the public servants should be made accountable for the mishap and for putting lives of citizens at stake. They let us down and they also let down our Constitution, she said.
Dinker had faced personal threats as she waged a war against the real estate and builders’ lobby. However, she adds that now continuing the battle against such illegal structure depends on the members of Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development, an organisation that she is part of.
