Fire dept to conduct surprise inspections

Panaji: The directorate of fire and emergency services will start surprise inspections of restaurants and clubs across Goa from Wednesday. The aim is to examine their fire protection systems and safety measures to prevent a repeat of the Arpora nightclub tragedy.The inspections will be conducted in a phased manner, with teams checking if clubs and restaurants have NOCs. Nitin Raikar, director of fire and emergency services, chaired a meeting on Tuesday with senior fire safety officials, directing them to conduct random inspections of restaurants and clubs in their jurisdictions. “We will be more vigilant to weed out any possibility of a potential mishap. We are starting inspections to verify if establishments comply with fire safety norms and regulations in reality,” said Shripad Gawas, divisional officer, North Goa.Gawas said the officers will check the validity of NOCs with establishments and ensure they have adequate entry and exit points.