KOCHI: It was in 2019 that a massive fire broke out at the office-cum godown of a well-known stationery dealer shop at Kalathiparampu near Ernakulam South railway station.
An inspection by a special fire force squad had then found ‘serious lapses’ on the part of the owner in adhering to mandatory fire safety norms.
Five years down the lane, another major blaze occurred at the congested South railway station locality, this time at a multi-storey scrap shop. And yet again, the fire safety norms have been blatantly violated, as per Fire and Rescue Services.
“We have found a number of violations. Such facilities need to have setbacks (open spaces) in the front, sides, and rear portions of the building. In this case, there is a residential apartment at one side, hardly 3.5 metres apart. Similarly, no provision was done for ventilators, another mandatory rule. Another violation is regarding the quantity of scrap stored in the building,” Station Officer Rajesh Kumar R, who led the rescue services, told TNIE.
Eight north Indian workers had a miraculous escape after the fire broke out at the scrap shop on Sunday. The building also didn’t have a 5-m driveway as is mandatory.
“This wouldn’t have received the NOC as of now. But the building is 37-years old. We will give a report of the same in the coming days,” the officer said.
Kochi Mayor M Anilkumar too said he has sought for a report. “We will go through the details. I have sought a report on the same,” he said.
‘Awoken suddenly by blast’
Meanwhile, 53-year old Ajith Bhaskaran, a workshop owner who was the first to witness the flames, said he was awoken by the sound of the blasts at 2 am. While he and his aged mother had a lucky escape, his house got partially gutted.
“I was awoken by the sound of the blasts. At first I thought it was the sound of the coconut falling before my house. But the second blast was loud. This time I felt something wrong and was terrified to find the flames quickly engulfing the building,” Ajith said.
According to him, eight North Indians, who work at a near-by workshop, were fast asleep on the top floor of the building at that time.
“Then the Fire Force officials rushed in and cut open the front gate. The workers awoke hearing the sound of the machine used to cut the gate lock. They somehow managed to run out of the building even as the fire was spreading,” he said.
The Fire officials are yet to ascertain the cause of the mishap, saying that they are looking into “all aspects”.