After Rajkot fire mishap, safety inspections begin at Noida's gaming zones

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar launched a fire safety inspection campaign at gaming zones here on Monday, a day after 27 people were killed in a blaze at a gaming zone in Gujarat's Rajkot.

As part of the two-day campaign, fire safety measures and equipment at gaming zones are being checked and in case any shortcomings are found, legal action, including registration of FIRs, would be initiated, said district Chief Fire Office Pradeep Kumar Choubey.

Children were among those killed in the massive fire that broke out at the TRP gaming zone in Rajkot's Nana-Mava locality on Saturday evening. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the incident.

According to officials, the management of the TRP Game Zone never applied for the mandatory fire no-objection certificate (NOC).

The Gautam Buddh Nagar police commissioner has formed a multi-department team, including officers of the state tax service, electricity and entertainment departments, and fire service, for fire safety inspections at all gaming zones in the district, Choubey said.
 

"Our combined team is carrying out a two-day campaign to check all gaming zones in Gautam Buddh Nagar to make sure that a Rajkot-like incident does not occur here. If any shortcomings are found during inspections, an FIR would be lodged and these facilities would be closed to prevent loss of lives and property," he said.

Fun City, Hamleys, Smaash, Game Palacio in Sector 18; Time Zone in Logix Mall, Sector 32; Tingaland in Starling Mall, Sector 104; Smaash, G Kart, Just Jumping, Sky Jump in Spectrum Mall, Sector 75; Dynamic in Sector 41; and Hing in Sector 104 were among the places where inspections were carried out, officials said.

During the checking, all the gaming zones were told about the necessary guidelines regarding security arrangements, they said.