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After two persons fell to their death from the second floor of a pub in Church Street on Friday, Bengaluru Police said they will instruct building owners to install safety barriers to prevent such accidents.
“Since most of the pubs in the city are on rooftops we will instruct building owners to have six foot-tall barriers or railings to prevent accidents. The lift and emergency exit should also be safe during any emergency,” D Devaraj, DCP (central), told indianexpress.com.
DCP Devaraj said the police will soon hold a meeting with pub and restaurant owners and civic authorities to outline the safety measures.
Incidentally, Bangalore Police Commissioner Alok Kumar was inspecting pubs on MG Road and Church Street on Friday when the accident happened. The police received complaints against several pubs and bars in the city that are being kept open beyond the permitted hours.
On 20 June, the Karnataka High court had pulled up Bengaluru City Police for failing to take suitable action on various complaints including noise pollution from pubs. An oral observation by the court termed the efforts taken by the police force as “casual”.
READ: Two fall to death from second floor of pub on Church Street
The court criticised the police for holding spot inspections in pubs during early evening while the petitioners had clearly mentioned that the nuisance starts post-midnight and continues till the early hours of the morning.
After the court direction, the Bengaluru City Police started to conduct raids on pubs, starting from Indiranagar in East Bengaluru.
READ: Karnataka HC pulls up cops for ‘casual approach’ on pubs in Indiranagar
Deepak Batavia, president, Church Street Shop Owners’ Association, told Indianexpress.com, that the government should come up with strict rules and regulations which will lay out the standard safety procedures to followed by the building owners in the City. “Most of the pubs don’t have a good cover-up fabrication in the open area and smoking zones. After the two persons died falling from the pub window most of the building owners are alert and they are making safety arrangements.”
“The pub and restaurants should put out the Do’s and Dont’s board on the premises for the customers so that they are aware of the safety procedures. The local civic body is also not conducting regular checks in the commercial buildings” he added.