Fire brigade wants barricades to be removed from Metro site

The city's fire brigade department told the Bombay High Court today that it had sought the removal of barricades from a Metro III project site in south Mumbai to widen a service road, so that fire engines had an access to the buildings there in case of an emergency.
The department submitted a three-page report to the court after carrying out an inspection of the area, following a petition filed by a lawyer, Robin Jaisinghani, raising concerns that in case of a fire hazard, fire engines would not be able to reach the spot due to the ongoing Metro construction work at Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai.

"The officers concerned have carried out an inspection and it has been found that the buildings are accessible to fire engines from Captain Prakash Pethe Marg," the report said.
"The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) is hereby requested to remove the temporary barricades installed for the ongoing Metro Rail project, which will be helpful for accessing the buildings near Cuffe Parade and manoeuvring fire appliances in case of emergencies," the report said.
It added that the building societies were instructed to be fire compliant by keeping their fire-fighting system in a good working condition all the time.
In the petition, Jaisinghani had claimed that due to the barricades put up in and around the area, in case of a fire in any of the residential buildings, the fire brigade would not be in a position to bring in its vehicles.

A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak posted the petition for a further hearing to November 9.
The 33-kilometre Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro line III project is part of the Metro system, which will connect the Cuffe Parade business district in south Mumbai to SEEPZ in the city's north-central suburbs.