The hearings on alleged lapses of rooftop restaurants, pubs and lounges will resume after the state government approves a draft SOP that a committee formed to review the fire safety mechanisms in hotels, restaurants and public places will prepare, Firhad Hakim, the committee’s chairperson, said on Friday.
The SOP will be drafted after the second meeting of the committee next week.
The fate of the rooftop restaurants, pubs and lounges, now closed, will depend on the hearings after the SOP is finalised, he said.
The crackdown on rooftop restaurants, bars and cafes came after mayor Firhad Hakim announced on May 2 that Calcutta’s rooftop cafes, lounges, bars and restaurants would be shut down.
The announcement came a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the fire-ravaged Rituraj Hotel in central Calcutta, where 14 people died on April 29, and asked the business community to follow fire safety norms or face government action.
A KMC team demolished portions of a party hotspot at Celica Park on Park Street the next day after the chief minister visited the hotel.
The fire safety committee was formed in the wake of the events.
Kolkata Police had prepared a list of 83 cafes, bars and restaurants and inspected them.
Some of the establishments on the list were not located on the roof, but on a lower floor. Civic body officials said inspections revealed that some of the establishments on the lower floors encroached on space that was meant to be a fire refuge.
“The committee will have its second meeting next week. We will prepare the SOP and send it for approval. The hearings will be held after the SOP is approved. Their fate will depend on the SOP,” Hakim said.
Hakim, who heads the committee as the state’s urban development minister, said the observations of the fire services directorate will have topmost priority while deciding on rooftop establishments.
“The consent of the fire brigade is most important. The KMC’s building department will be there, but the fire brigade’s role is most important,” he said.
The KMC heard three rooftop establishments last month. The three establishments had moved the high court challenging the KMC notice to stop operations.
The high court asked the KMC to conduct a hearing for the establishments.
The KMC heard only three establishments following the court’s order.
There was uncertainty on what would happen to the 80 others on the police’s list that were also served “stop operations” notices.
Hakim’s statement on Friday that the rooftop establishments will be heard after the SOP is finalised cleared the air to some extent.
The state’s fire and emergency services minister, panchayat minister, disaster management and civil defence minister, housing minister, and members of the committee that will draft the SOP.
Calcutta’s police commissioner, director general of fire services and the additional director general of police (law and order) are some of the senior officials on the panel, while Calcutta municipal commissioner is the member convener.
Each district will have a district-level committee headed by the district magistrate. The district-level committees must ensure compliance and submit monthly action-taken reports on the basis of the SOP.
The state-level committee will also act as the district-level committee for Calcutta.