KMC firm on stand regarding fire safety at underground parking in New Market

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will not compromise with the fire safety measures when it comes to opening up the underground parking facility at New Market. The strong stand taken by the civic body has put uncertainty about the timing of opening up the parking lot.

"The state Fire and Emergency Services department has recommended a number of modern equipments that should be installed in the parking space to have foolproof fire safety. A number of these instruments are not manufactured in our country and need to be imported from foreign countries. The entire process is time consuming but we have already initiated the process of procurement," said Debasish Kumar, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Parking).

According to sources in the civic body, some of the instruments are manufactured in Germany, while some others in Japan.

The recommendations were provided by the Fire department last year, with the KMC planning to open up the facility but later decided against it to ensure that the people using the parking facility are not put at risk.

The facility, popularly known as Simpark that was maintained by Simplex, could accommodate 270 cars.

On an average, 150 cars were parked in the facility daily. The current capacity after Simpark's closure and hawker encroachment in

the area stands at 140. The existing parking lots are in Bertram Street and Humayun Place.

The underground parking facility was closed in March 2016, following safety concerns raised by the Fire department. Some shops are located in the first basement, while the car parking lot is in the second basement.

"There were four ducts through which the cars used to go up and down. As per Fire Services recommendation, one of the ducts should have fire fighting facilities," a senior KMC official said.