Bhubaneswar: A shopping mall in Patia here was sealed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities, Thursday, in presence of Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary and Deputy Commissioner Srimanta Mishra and other officials for not complying with statutory parking rules, fire safety norms and lack of other facilities.
The mall was sealed by a BMC team and Revenue department officials, said sources.
The move came after the BMC officials who had reached the area for an eviction drive were informed about lack of parking facilities at the mall. The officials visited the mall to examine the situation and found lack of parking facility at the mall, which also did not possess a fire safety clearance certificate. The civic body officials then served a show-cause notice on the owner of the building and sealed the entire complex.
The seal notice was issued to the building owner Jitendra Singh and not the brand. According to sources at BMC, earlier a notice was served to rectify the errors and submit requisite documents with the BMC. However, the mall staffers failed to comply with the notice.
The mall had been utilising its parking space as godown which led to congestion in the area. This was one of several BMC norms that the mall had flouted, said BMC officials.
Instead of going to court, the officials formed a mobile court and passed the order to seal the mall. “We have served the notice on the building owner Jitendra Prasad Singh. The building will be sealed till the shopping mall owner furnishes compliance certificate to the competent authorities,” BMC Deputy Commissioner Srimanta Mishra said.
The building will remain sealed until the shopping mall owner furnishes relevant documents.
The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) had last year issued an order asking different establishments such as commercial buildings, shopping malls, multiplexes, hospitals, apartments and housing projects in the Capital city to stop charging parking fees from visitors to their premises with immediate effect. However, despite the order, a few malls allegedly started charging visitors for parking vehicles.