Bangalore malls to step up safety measures

Bangalore malls to step up safety measures
Tuesday July 3 2007 14:59 IST

IANS

BANGALORE: Multi-storied shopping malls with their multiplexes and food courts are a big draw for Bangaloreans but the fatal fall of a boy in one of the malls recently has raised safety concerns.

Aahan Bhandari, 6, fell from the fourth floor of the Garuda Mall in the heart of the city on Sunday and died on the way to hospital. Closed circuit television (CCTV) images showed that he slipped through a gap between the steel railing on the fourth floor and the escalator to the fifth floor.

Aahan, who had just enrolled in a school for his first standard, had gone to the mall with his industrialist father Bharath Bhandari, mother Harshita and relatives to watch a movie at Inox multiplex on the fourth floor.

This is the first such fatal accident in any of the nearly dozen malls in this IT capital and the city police and civic authorities have now decided to visit all the malls to study the safety aspects and suggest measures to prevent recurrence of accidents.

The owners of the Garuda Mall say they may close all such gaps and also put up Teflon nets at the first floor so that anyone falling by accident does not hit the ground.

Technical experts from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (Greater Bangalore City Corporation) will visit the mall Wednesday to suggest safety measures, a spokesperson of the civic body told IANS.

He said the experts will also visit all other shopping malls and high-rise buildings to assess the risk level and ensure safety measures.

Most of the malls attract between 30,000 and 50,000 visitors on weekends and parents with young children find it difficult to keep a check on their wards who love to go up and down the escalators and run around the shops.

Sunday's fatal fall means added tension when visiting the malls, say doctor couple Vasumathi and Suresh who have two sons, aged six and three.

"At least twice a month we visit one or two malls for both shopping or to watch a movie and sometimes just to spend time as children love the ambience," said Vasumathi, an eye specialist who moved to the city with her husband and the kids last year from Palghat in Kerala.

"We were always concerned about the safety of children while going around but following the fatal accident, our tension will only increase," Suresh said.

The tragic incident, however, has not put off the visitors to the mall. It was business as usual there on Monday, particularly in the evening, the usual rush hours during weekdays.

Parents with children at the mall were, of course, extra cautious to ensure their wards do not go out of their sight.

"We cannot stop going to the malls," said Shruti, a high-school teacher, who had brought her lone nine-year-old daughter to the mall. "Yes. I am very worried now," she said, hoping that added safety measures will prevent any major mishap.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, expressing shock at Aahan's death, told reporters on Monday that his government will soon come out with safety norms for malls and take steps to ensure strict adherence.

The Bhandaris have not filed any complaint against the mall owners so far and police are treating the case as an accident.