Bengaluru: A day after the blazing inferno, Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) appears to have woken up to long-ignored fire hazards in congested localities. Chickpet, Balepet, Kumbarpet, Mamulpet, Nagarathpet and SP Road — part of old Bengaluru — have grown in a largely unregulated manner over the decades. Many roads, less than 40-feet wide, are choked with parked vehicles and see heavy pedestrian footfall, leaving little room for fire tenders or ambulances during emergencies. Despite a major fire in Aug 2025 in Nagarathpet that claimed five lives, little appears to have changed on the ground.A senior GBA official told TOI many buildings in the vicinity lack even basic fire extinguishers. “Transformers, electric poles and a web of overhead cables crowd the lanes, while shops stack wall-to-wall inflammable goods such as garments, cosmetics and electronics,” the officer pointed out. GBA chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao said, “In the previous case (Aug 2025), we found the gutted building was facing violations and we took action against the owner. But from now on, we want to have preventive measures in place to ensure such an incident doesn’t happen again.”GBA will constitute a committee led by the Bengaluru Central city corporation’s engineering team, with members from town planning, Bescom, police and the fire department, to study structural faults and suggest corrective measures. Rao added, “We are thinking of multiple options, including having a common water pipeline system in each complex, similar to apartments.”Trade activist Sajjan Raj Mehta said, “Over the years, petes have become over-cramped… There is so much business happening, but no serious effort has been made to develop infrastructure. We have been petitioning successive govts to improve infrastructure in the locality, but no one has shown interest despite traders bringing in crores of rupees in revenue. Not many buildings have been audited for fire safety. Given the daily footfall that runs into lakhs, we need at least a mini-ambulance and mini-fire vehicle stationed here at all times.”
