KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Saturday took a policy decision not to give fresh nod to any new rooftop restaurants in the city. Permits issued to those already in operation will also be reviewed and, if necessary, revoked, a civic official said.
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The decision came on a day Kolkata Police sent a list of 83 rooftop joints to KMC for scrutiny. Civic officials fanned out across the city and raided several terrace cafes, lounges and restaurants, including LMNOQ Sky Bar on Park Street and WhatsUp Café on Southern Avenue.
While civic officials claimed the action was intended to ensure safety of guests and building occupants, several restaurant owners said they were contemplating legal action against the “arbitrary” action.
The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, too, has decided to temporarily shut down all rooftop restaurants.
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On Saturday, all KMC departments were asked to be ready for a special drive to raze illegally built rooftop restaurants. The civic officials started their action with LMNOQ Sky Bar at Celica Park, where they dismantled the roof of the indoor seating area. A section of the structure here was demolished on Friday evening. Another team visited WhatsUp Cafe and asked the owners why they hadn’t shut the rooftop section.
“We told them we are yet to receive any notice. They offered no further explanation and we had to close it. Later, fire department officials said we could operate the indoor section, which we did as usual,” said a co-owner of WhatsUp Cafe.
The KMC action sent jitters through the industry with owners of some rooftop restaurants like Blue & Beyond on Lindsay Street deciding to stay shut on Saturday. The restaurant did not receive any notice but chose to close down its rooftop section on its own, an employee said.
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The civic drive comes after CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday visited Celica Park for a surprise inspection and called out multiple eateries and bars that were found violating fire safety norms. Urging immediate corrective steps, she had said it “cannot be just about business and making money”. The CM also visited the Mecchua fire spot where 14 people mostly choked to death in a hotel that had walled up its windows and staircases.
KMC officials said they had sent a notice to the director of Celica Developers Pvt Ltd at 24 Park Street, where LMNOQ is located in one of the five buildings at the address. The notice calls for a stop to work on all construction, including any additions and alterations, and to stop operations and demolish unauthorised structures immediately. If that is not done, the KMC has threatened to initiate demolitions under section 400(8) of the KMC Act.
The civic body has prepared a tentative list of 120 rooftop restaurants and lounges across the city. The highest concentration of 28-30 rooftop restaurants is in Borough VII, which comprises Park Street, Loudon Street, Theatre Road, and the Park Circus area. Interestingly, areas located off EM Bypass and falling under the Kasba-Garfa belt have 15 rooftop bars cum restaurants.
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While Celica Group officials said they are yet to receive the notice, they pointed out that the “unauthorised construction” on the terrace of Celica House was being torn down by KMC and that the Celica Group, as the landlord, previously asked the LMNOQ management to either regularise the structure it constructed on the roof with KMC or remove it. "We have written to the LMNOQ management multiple times," the official said.
Locals alleged there have been additions and alterations in multiple buildings on the premises, including construction on the terrace of Park Centre. However, TOI was unable to verify if these additions and alterations were authorised or unauthorised. The Celica Group management maintained that it was above board and that it was open to inspection and willing to improve on the safety.
Lalbazar has issued guidelines regarding the operations of all hotels and guest houses. The guidelines have been passed on to OCs, asking them to treat it as an SOP. Cops have been asked to ensure that the terrace and roof are open. A police operation started across the city from Saturday in this regard. "We have identified 83 rooftop cafes and asked them to stop operations till KMC issues a clearance. KMC is serving them formal notices," said an officer.
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The guidelines state that all licences, especially fire and trade licences, must be in place for the police to issue an 'NOC' to operate a hotel or guest house. On Saturday morning, officers in charge submitted reports on how many rooftop restaurants are in each police station area in Kolkata. "We have been asked to lodge GDs whenever fire safety measures are found lacking and alert the fire department so that they can carry out an audit," said another officer.
(Inputs from Subhro Niyogi, Prithvijit Mitra & Dwaipayan Ghosh)