Staffers, patrons keep their fingers crossed on reopening of neighbourhood’s nerve centre
Times of India | 15 June 2024
Kolkata: The Acropolis management claimed it would try its utmost to open the mall by Saturday evening but insiders acknowledged that given the enormity of the task at hand, it could be some time Sunday when retail shops would reopen. But the food court and restaurants located just below and above the book store, which was destroyed in Friday’s fire, could take longer to resume business.
“We will take stock of the situation for bringing normalcy. Many people are employed in various establishments in the building. It is important that normalcy is restored at the earliest. We will try to restart business in the establishment some time on Saturday,” said Acropolis Mall senior operations manager Krishna Jha.
On Friday evening, shopkeepers and employees of various establishments were anxious about business resuming. A majority of the 300-odd employees of Shoppers Stop waited till late on Friday to know when to report the next day. “We spoke to fire and mall officials but there is no clear instructions about when the store can be reopened,” said Puja Chowdhury, a senior official at the retail chain. Debiprosad Ghosh, who works at a private firm in the building, said they had been told to work from home on Saturday till fresh instructions for next week. “Sunday is a holiday and Monday is Eid. We have been told we would return to office on Tuesday if the authorities get the permission to reopen the building by then. Else, we will continue to work from home,” said the resident of Kasba.
A mall official said the fire department had already given the nod to reopen the entire mall other than the affected mezzanine level, where the fire took place. “We will work through the night to conduct checks on various systems, including electrical lines and the air-conditioning, to ensure everything is in order. Glass shards from panels that were broken to allow the smoke to escape have to be cleared. Water used to fight the fire, which is now all over the top floors, have to be cleaned. All this will take time but we are trying our best to restart the facility by Saturday evening,” the official said.
Sources said composite aluminium panels will be fitted on the glass sections that had been shattered to allow smoke to escape during the firefighting operation. “Plugging the gaps is important for effective use of the air-conditioning unit,” a mall maintenance official said.
Before the mall resumes operations, electricity severed by CESC has to be restored. The repair and restoration work that began late on Friday was done using power from diesel generator sets installed in the building.
The 99 offices and a business club housed on 16 floors above the rear section of the mall were not affected by the fire. But they are unlikely to open before Tuesday with several offices declaring work-from-home. Monday is a holiday for Eid-al-Adha.
The gutted mezzanine level will remain closed for some time now. “There will be a forensic inspection on Saturday and based on that report, the next course of action will be decided,” said a police officer. A KMC official said the civic body would give a fit-for-use certificate for the impacted floor only once structural engineers inspected the portion and declared it safe. But there is no such problem with the 77 retail stores in the three floors below.