DTCP acts against commercial units working in mall basements

On Saturday, the officials sealed various such units in the malls that are situated on MG road. The officials later mentioned that in the coming days more such inspections and sealing will take place.

More than 24 malls were warned by the DTCP earlier of stringent action after it was observed that it had encroached upon the spaces set aside for safety exits, parking lots and used it for commercial purposes. Compromising on safety procedures has resulted in these malls being found ill-equipped to handle major emergencies like fire, earthquakes and stampedes.

It was observed that most of the shopping outlets, restaurants, offices have been opened in the entry and exit areas and even in front of the fire fighting equipments.

The basements and the open spaces in the malls have been misused by setting up security rooms, store rooms, washrooms, and monitoring room. In the inspection that was conducted by the DTCP officials it was found that areas ranging from 4,000 square feet to even 1.10 lakh square feet have been encroached by the erring malls despite the warning.

Making scathing observations over the violation of building norms, the DTCP had been issuing notices to these malls however there has been no action taken by the mall management. Moreover, flouting of rules by the mall management is defeating the purpose of free parking in the mall basement due to death of space for vehicles. Even though Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) had directed the city malls for free parking by waiving off property tax from basements, most of the vehicles still continue to be parked on the main service roads.