Pramesh S Jain & Dr.Thomas (Special Correspondent)
The tragic incident of cracker godown fire incident which took the life of 14 people also expose large scale irregularities as several shops which have availed the license to sell violated the conditions.
The officials crack down on 18 shops found that which had taken the sale licenses for five years but stored large quantities of crackers risking the safety of people.
Its a major lapses found during the inspection as the shop owners have provided false information to avail the license, which is being probed.
Taking a strong objections, the Deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban,has directed the officials to carry out a detailed inspections on the crackers shops and submit a report for further investigations.
This incident has also brought the lapses on part of the officials who failed to carry out the inspections before and after issue of the licenses.
The DC office is now verifying those inspections reports submitted by the officials concerned to initiate necessary action against the erring officials,who are indirectly responsible for the mishap,a senior officer, said.
According to him,the jurisdictional police and fire officials are supposed to conduct inspections to check on the licensing condition time to time and submit a report to the DC who is the licensing authority,for further action.
Though routine inspections were conducted on the shops which have availed the licenses,a favourable report has been submitted with a consent everything is ok.
The DC office is now verifying those reports to summon the officials for questioning for necessary action.
According to a rough estimation around 100 licensed crackers shops are operating in Attibele and Anekal and along the highways with a permission only to sell; crackers.
As per the licensing condition the shops are supposed to store only 1000 kilos of crackers,with a list of strict guidelines for storage space.
However the shops have set up sub standard and ill equipped godowns to store huge amount of crackers worth several thousands kilos and even using goods vehicle to transport them unscientifically which is illegal.
The regulatory authorities including police,force and revenue have failed to keep a check on the transportation sand storage.
These officials are no under the radar for their lapses on part of their duties,which resulted in major mishap, another officer, said .
