ISLAMABAD: The Emergency & Disaster Management Directorate of CDA investigated the fire that erupted at the famous Centaurus Mall.
According to the report, there were several combustive materials at the food court where the fire had erupted.
The report also noted that the appliances installed at the mall were inspected in 2016 and no inspection has been made after that to date.
The investigation report also pointed out that the mall only had an interim completion certificate that was issued in 2017 and has not been issued a No Objection Certificate by the concerned authorities.
According to the details, a number of notices have been served between 2017 to 2021 yet the administration has shown negligence.
The report said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) kept monitoring the situation and remained aware of the repeated failure on part of the Centaurus Mall’s management.
As the investigation department paid a visit to investigate the building, they came to know that automatic devices that were installed for fire safety were flawed and the restaurants have also violated the fire and safety regulations.
It is also important to note that despite being Islamabad’s most popular shopping mall, the interior and material used in the food court were not fire resistant and the mall doesn’t even have its own firefighting mechanism.
In addition to this, Monal Downtown, the eatery where the fire originated, was never in the initial plan of the Centaurus Mall and was never approved by the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI). Yet, it has been serving a number of customers for many years.
Furthermore, it was shared that the Centaurus Mall was not built as per the building plan approved in 2008 by the CDA building control department.
The management has shown extreme negligence in all aspects and as a result, a number of people had to face such a catastrophic incident.
