

Charlotte was chosen the “Best Place to Live in America” by in its annual ranking, based on factors including employment opportunities, crime rates, and housing affordability. Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and one of the 20 largest cities in the United States. It is a growing, prosperous city with demographics and facts to match. Welcome to Charlotte, the Queen City and our hometown. Charlotte NC: A Top Place to Work & Live.“We have to be particularly cautious where large numbers of people assemble,” stressed minister Chatterjee. Kundalia was produced before the seventh metropolitan magistrate on Wednesday and remanded in police custody till August 30. This is a serious offence,” the fire minister said. The entrance was not wide enough to allow entry of fire tenders. “A fire broke out at Kundalia Towers on May 16, in which fire brigade officials rescued 19 people. The threat of action against errant markets follows Tuesday evening’s arrest of promoter Pradip Kundalia, after one of his properties, also on Shakespeare Sarani, caught fire.

Minister Chatterjee, however, said the market had asked for two months’ time to meet fire safety norms.Īt Treasure Island, fire extinguishers were conspicuous by their absence, and the few around were beyond the expiry date. Agarwal denied having received a notice from the fire services department. Metro found no sprinklers and smoke or fire detectors in sight and just a few fire extinguishers. They can be broken open in case of emergency,” explained the caretaker.Īt Vardaan Market, on Camac Street, 12 stores were gutted in 2001. But even on Wednesday, when Metro did the rounds of the markets under a cloud, two fire exits in the AC Market basement were found shuttered. There have been two fires in the past at the Shakespeare Sarani market. Rampuria said that there are no sprinklers or smoke detectors at AC Market as “such norms did not exist when the market was built in 1972”.įire safety laws have been modified to suit modern needs, Chatterjee added, and builders have to comply with them in the interest of safety. Its officials had surveyed the market after the fire at Satyanarayan Park, but they had not found anything amiss at the time,” claimed Rampuria. “To date, we have not got any notice from the fire department. Surendra Rampuria, managing director of ABL International Ltd, that owns the market, has denied having received any government warning. There is also a “lack of sprinklers, smoke and heat detectors”. The entrance and exit of AC Market are inadequate, the minister alleged. This 18,000-sq-ft premises houses 85 shops, with 1,500 shoppers buying goods worth Rs 85,000 (approx) a day. Here, 312 shops occupy 30,000 sq ft, visited by 5,000 customers a day, bringing in business of around Rs 8 lakh. Footfall of 3,000 result in business worth Rs 10 lakh (approx) a day. ÃAC Market, built in 1972, with 228 stores spread over 40,000 sq ft. The three markets that have come under fire are: If they don’t act after this, we will have to take the most stringent step and close it down,” said Chatterjee. So, on Wednesday, I asked the department to issue a final warning. “We have sent the market authorities around five notices, but these have been ignored. Pratim Chatterjee, fire services minister, threatened to close down one of the city’s oldest shopping malls unless the management widened entrances and installed modern fire safety systems on the premises immediately. Shopping landmark Air-Conditioned (AC) Market, on Shakespeare Sarani, has a closure notice hanging over its head for violation of fire-safety norms.
