Adherence to building regulations and safety protocols, proper inspection and safety audits before granting liquor licenses

K.K. SASIDHARAN, J.

Introductory

1. It is said that the fire in Sri Meenakshi Temple on Friday, the 2 February 2018 was a disaster waiting to happen for a long time. The unfortunate incident at the heritage building should be taken as a wake up call for undertaking a mass drive against illegal buildings, especially the multi-storeyed buildings constructed in violation of the Building Regulations as it is a constant threat to the safety and security of the people of Madurai. In case, the Fire Officers, Local Planning Authority, District Administration, Municipal Corporation and Police are insensitive to the issue regarding mushroom growth of illegal buildings and the safety aspects and inspite of a slew of fire accidents, safety audits are not conducted regularly, there is every possibility of another Uphaar Tragedy at the Temple City of Madurai.

2. The magnitude of the violation of building regulations and non adherence to the safety protocol at Vishaal De Mal, Madurai is evident from the following inspection report submitted by the District Collector and the Local Planning Authority, Madurai on 7 August 2017, pursuant to the direction given by this Court in this writ petition challenging the liquor licence issued to the multi storeyed shopping mall, situated adjacent to a petrol outlet at Gokhale Road, which is the nerve centre of Madurai.

“As per DCR (Development Control Regulations):

The building comes under the Multi-Storied Building (MSB) - Category III.

Rule No.	Description	Required	Available	Excess/Less	Remarks
5(2) A	Minimum Plot extent	2500 Sq. M.	3608.36 Sq. M.	Excess 1108.36 Sq. M.	Satisfied
5(2) B	Minimum Plot Width/frontage	40 Meter	42.06 Meter	Excess 2.06 Meter	Satisfied
5(2) C	Minimum Road Width	18 Meter	18 Meter		Satisfied
5(2) D	Maximum FSI	2.25	4.28	Excess 2.03	90.22% Deviation
5(2) E	Maximum Plot coverage	Above 30% upto 40%	76.91%	Excess 36.91%	92.28% Deviation
5(2) F	Maximum height above ground level	60 Meter	27.6 Meter	--	Satisfied
5(2) G	Minimum setback all around
	North	7 Meter	1.5 Meter (excluding projection)	5.5 Meter (-) Less	78.57% Deviation
	South	7 Meter	2.2 Meter (excluding projection)	4.8 Meter (-) Less	68.57% Deviation
	East (front open)	7 Meter	5.7 Meter (excluding projection)	1.3 Meter (-) Less	18.57% Deviation (Fire escape open steel stair case provided in front of 5.7 Meter length)
	West	7 Meter	Nil	7 Meter (-) Less	100 % Deviation

      Required Parking Details:

Shopping Centre	200 Nos.
Restaurant	31 Nos.
Theatre	67 Nos.
Rooms	2 Nos.
Total No. of required Car Parking	300 Nos.

Provided Car Parking:

Basement I	40 Nos.
Basement II	55 Nos.
Total No. of Car Parking (Provided)	95 Nos.

The Dimension of Parking slot shall be 5.0 metre x 2.5 metre with a minimum width of driveway of 3.5 metre for one way movement and 7.2 metre width for two way movement. In this building as per the DCR norms, 300 cars should be accommodated with driveway facilities in Basement Floor I & Basement Floor II. But, the space is not sufficient for parking and it violates the DCR Rule 3(3) 11.”

3. The District Collector, Madurai rejected the application for issuing licence for opening multiple theatres at the shopping mall. The mall got the licence to open five theatres on the top floor of the building and exhibit films pursuant to the direction given by this Court by agreeing with the submission of the builder that it was constructed in accordance with the planning permission given by the Commissioner, Madurai Corporation, notwithstanding the legal position that the Commissioner has no authority to approve the building plan for a multi-storeyed building. The builder is now banking upon the earlier orders of the High Court to prevent