The fate of restaurants, pubs, and lounges — currently shut because of fire safety concerns — will depend on the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s decision regarding three of them, whose representatives attended a hearing at the civic headquarters in May, Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Monday.

The hearing was conducted after the owners of three restaurants and pubs challenged the civic body’s direction to them to shut down operations.

Calcutta High Court had asked the KMC to hear the petitioners.

Hakim had earlier said that the hearings on alleged lapses of rooftop restaurants, pubs and lounges will resume after the state government approved a draft standard operating procedure (SOP) drawn up by a committee formed to review the fire safety mechanisms in hotels, restaurants and public places.

Eighty-three restaurants, pubs and lounges in Calcutta that featured on a list prepared by Kolkata Police were shut down. Three of them moved court and the KMC invited them for hearings later. While majority of them were running from roofs, a few were also running from lower floors.

KMC sources said the restaurants on the lower floors seemed to have encroached on space meant to be fire refuge.

Hakim’s declaration on Monday came after the second meeting of a committee set up to review the effectiveness of existing fire safety systems in restaurants, hotels, factories and buildings.

The committee, headed by Hakim and with state fire, panchayat, disaster management and housing ministers as members, will prepare a SOP to be followed in places of public gathering.

“What happens to the (closed) rooftop restaurants will depend on the outcome of the hearings conducted already,” Hakim said.

A KMC official said the representatives of the three restaurants who attended the hearings have been asked to submit a few more documents.

“The submission is still pending,” said the official.

He said none of the other 80 establishments that were also asked to stop operations have approached the KMC to resume operations.

“We have yet to receive any application from any of the other establishments for opening the premises. If we receive an application, we will conduct hearings for them also,” added the official.

“If there is a policy direction to the three restaurants who attended the hearing, it will apply to rest of the restaurants, bars and lounges,” said the official.

At Monday’s meeting, the other state government departments submitted their suggestions about what protocol or SOP should be followed to boost fire safety preparedness in public spaces.

“We had asked for suggestions from various departments. They have submitted their suggestions. We will assimilate them and prepare a draft report. We will send it to the government for approval,” Hakim added.

“Once the government approves the SOP, we will publish it so that it becomes public,” Hakim added.

He did not want to divulge the suggestions presented since it was still in a draft stage and the state government’s nod was needed before finalising the proposals.

“The thrust was on fire audits and fire drills,” he said.