Wants organisers to give written declaration of fire compliance, and get no-objection from fire officials
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Dandiya raas and garba event organisers will now have to ensure that stalls offering food there are fire compliant. In addition, they will not only need to give a written declaration saying their venue is fire compliant, they will also have to get a no-objection certificate from fire officials. With hardly a week left for Navratri to begin, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also wants mandals to seek permissions for pandals online, as it was done during Ganeshotsav.
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The approvals and rejections will be given after seeing whether mandals have followed the orders of the High Court. The orders include that no mandal should encroach footpaths and disturb pedestrians right to walk. Apart from pandals being fire compliant, they should also ensure that traffic is not obstructed because of a pandal on the road.
According to civic sources, after receiving the declarations from the organisers, the stalls will be inspected. The BMC has codified requirements mentioned on its website in case of gas cylinder usage at an event. If the food stalls have cooking counters, then organisers need to have fire-fighting equipment, and approvals will be given after checking these.
Narendra Barde, deputy municipal commissioner in charge of permissions to be granted during Ganeshotsav and Navratri, said, "Now the permissions will be granted only online, and we have also made it mandatory for the dandiya raas event organisers to fulfill the codified requirements with respect to fire compliance."
'Always fire compliant'
Pankaj Kotecha, an organiser of the Dandiya and Garba Raat at Kora Kendra, said, "We serve only packaged food at the event and there is no live cooking. We have been seeking the Fire Brigade's NOCs from a very long time for the event as it is one of the important mandates before approvals."
Measures to be taken
The BMC's Fire Department has uploaded the standard measures to be taken in case there is cylinder gas usage. These include:
* In case of two cylinders there have to be proper fire extinguishers installed near the stall.
* Specific exit route to be displayed
* Fire safety measures to be verified by ward officials first
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