Mumbai corporators want cases to be tabled

MUMBAI: The Kalbadevi fire inquiry report may have come out within the three-week time period, but a few reports, including one on last year's Lotus Business Park fire in Andheri, are yet to see the light of day. In the BMC, opposition corporators have questioned the administration on the delays.
Sources said the Lotus Park inquiry was initially given to an additional municipal commissioner, who retired last year.It was then transferred to another senior civic official. An official now says the report should be out in a fortnight.
"Also, the civic administration has not yet presented the Gokul House inquiry report. Neither has it bothered to inform us about the status of earlier inquiry reports, including the 2013 Babu Genu Building collapse. Despite being people's representatives, we are not even given copies of reports. We have demanded that the Gokul House matter be discussed at the next standing committee meeting," said corporator Devendra Amberkar.
In the Kalbadevi report, released on Tuesday, the inquiry panel has recommended that the fire brigade should not be involved in non-fire activities anymore. It also recommended the setting up of fire chowkies or mini fire tenders in clogged and congested areas like Kalbadevi.
Corporators say that despite orders from the standing committee chairman to give a copy of the Gokul House inquiry report to house members on Wednesday, nothing has been done. Corporator Pravin Cheda from Ghatkopar said, "It appears they are ignoring us probably because they fear we will be able to point out what went wrong on the administration's part."
TIMES VIEW
The panel has made quite a few recommendations that make sense. But this will remain another meaningless sarkari exercise unless all recommendations are implemented on the ground. These reports need to be taken seriously and acted on to dispel the overriding feeling that panels are set up only to assuage public opinion in the aftermath of a tragedy.