8,400 of 14,000 food outlets in Gurugram not ‘fire safe’: Survey

Gurugram, April 6

While Gurugram is one of the largest food and beverage (F&B) markets in the country, with around 14,000 outlets, as many as 60 per cent (8,400) of these are not “fire safe”. According to a recent survey by the disaster management authority, the outlets that constitute the figure of 60 per cent have either never applied for a fire NOC, or, after getting the initial permit, have never upgraded the equipment or altered eatery designs or even heard of fire safety standard opearting procedures (SOPs).

DC and district disaster management in-charge Nishant Yadav said the administration would be will soon auditing the eateries and penalising defaulters.

“Fire safety is an important prerequisite but it is being ignored. Not just eateries, many buildings, including malls, have also completely ignored SOPs and are violating norms. Some have not even sought NOCs and others are not upgrading their fire equipment or ensuring fire exits. The defaulters will be penalised,” said Yadav.

It may be noted that out of 14,000 eateries, only 5,000 are formal and organised. These include casual dining, fine dining, PBCL (pubs, bar, club, and lounge), cafes & ice cream parlours, quick service restaurants (QSRs), etc.

In the formal and organised segment, format-wise casual dining holds the largest portion (64%) followed by QSR (15%). While a majority of these while seeking licences did apply for NOCs and over 50 per cent do have these, the remaining either have expired permissions or none at all.

Over 80 per cent of the informal segment, including local eateries and cafes, food outlets, food joints, carts, etc., have admitted in the survey that they do not even know that they require fire NOCs.

The city has around 50 malls and plenty of eat-cum-entertainment junctions in Sector 29, Bani Square, Vyapar Kendra, and Cross point. The survey found that 60 per cent of these not fire safe. A majority of them have encroached on fire exits and even pavements, making it impossible for fire tenders to manoeuvre through.

Will penalise violators

Fire safety is an important prerequisite but it is being ignored. Not just eateries but many buildings, including malls, have completely ignored SOPs and are violating norms. Some have not even sought NOCs and others are not upgrading their fire equipment or ensuring fire exits. The defaulters will be penalised. — Nishant Yadav, Gurugram DC