Surat civic body flags 7,642 properties for safety compliance checks

Surat, June 11 After the fire tragedy at the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot, the Gujarat government, on Wednesday, directed local bodies to identify all properties where 50 or more people gather and to establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure safety.

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has prepared SOPs for nine major categories, including textile markets, diamond units, game zones, hospitals, and banquet halls.

The SMC also conducted a comprehensive city-wide survey to identify such high-footfall locations, which is now in its final stage.

According to the survey, around 7,642 properties in Surat witness gatherings of 50 or more people.

These include nearly 2,950 educational institutions, more than 1,300 hospitals, over 290 banquet and community halls, about 1,150 restaurants and food courts, 69 game zones and amusement parks, around 400 shopping malls and supermarkets, more than 150 cinema halls and auditoriums, and nearly 1,300 religious places.

Textile and diamond markets have also been included in the shopping mall category for better monitoring.

As part of the implementation plan, the property owners will now be required to provide written guarantees -- once or twice a year -- confirming that their properties comply with the approved construction plans and that no unauthorised modifications have been made after obtaining Building Use permissions.

The SOPs also place accountability on municipal staff and officers who conduct site visits, ensuring shared responsibility in case of any future accidents.

To support ongoing monitoring, zone-wise operations have been established.

Each municipal zone will maintain a database of identified properties and update it quarterly -- by the last week of March, June, September, and December.

Additionally, the Central Urban Development Department must be provided with a certificate signed by the respective department and division heads confirming that no property remains unverified.

A registered and computerised database will be created to log all properties under various categories, along with their construction-use status and SOP compliance.

Once the survey concludes, the SMC will begin collecting affidavits from property owners as a formal acknowledgment of their responsibilities under the new safety protocols.

This initiative is aimed at preventing future disasters by ensuring accountability at both individual and institutional levels.

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