Shopping Mall Had Fire-Fighting Equipment, Claims Manager

Cuttack: A day after the devastating fire in the of City Style Shopping Mall in the busy Badambadi area in Cuttack city, the manager of Mall on Monday claimed that the Mall had adequate fire-fighting measures.

“The Mall had adequate fire-fighting equipment which we have used earlier. However, the equipment had little effect due to the high intensity of the fire,” said the Mall manager Manas Purohit.

Reacting to the notice served on the Mall owner by the Fire Services Department, he said how come the department has served notice as the Fire personnel have not verified the Mall.

“We have all the documents related to fire-fighting measure taken up in the Mall,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, as per the directive of the Director General, Civil Defence, BK Sharma, a three-member committee led by Chief Fire Office Sukant Sethi, on Monday began its probe into the incident. The committee will probe the cause of the fire and the fire-fighting measures in the Mall.

Talking to media persons after visiting the shopping Mall, the CFO said there were no special fighting arrangements in the Mall. Besides, there were no documents related to fire-fighting measures.

He further said there was no approval from the Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) for the shopping Mall in the area.

He said the committee after the investigation will register a case against the Mall authorities.

Asked about the incident, vice-chairperson of Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) Sarat Chandra Nayak said the Enforcement Department of the CDA will probe into the illegal construction of the Mall.

He further said that as per the preliminary investigation, CDA has not given any approval for the construction of the Mall.

It may be mentioned that one person sustained burn injuries while trying to come
out of the Mall after it caught fire at about 11.30 AM on Sunday.

The fire subsequently spread to Geeta Fashion showroom and four surrounding shops. Properties worth crores of rupees are estimated to have been reduced to ashes.