Amit Bagaria's Blog

Are 6.6 million daily shoppers safe in India’s shopping centres?

Almost 200 shopping centres (or malls) are already up and running across India and another 600 are in different stages of development.  Indian shopping centres get about 700 million annual visitors today and this is slated to go up to 2.2 billion annual visitors by 2015. That’s a whopping 6 million daily visitors, 15% more than the entire population of Singapore and more than three times that of Dubai.

Are we really prepared for this?  What I am really worried about is that more than 80% of the current and planned shopping centres in India fall woefully short of international standards in terms of safety and security. With lack of proper safety standards and measures, Indian shopping centres have already started witnessing a number of accidents, some even resulting in deaths or severe injuries to children and adults alike.

In 2008, a series of accidents affected the operations at a popular Bangalore mall and had forced the state government and the city authorities to rethink safety standards to be implemented by all existing and upcoming shopping centres / malls in the city. Even the mall in question has adopted some measures, but the question remains, “Why do we always take corrective actions and not preventive ones?”

On 26th January 2009, Republic Day, a major fire accident was prevented at one of the most popular malls in Bangalore. The fire started at the food court on the fourth floor. Thousands of people were evacuated in minutes, and the fire was controlled. But will luck be on our side forever?

In May 2010, an early morning fire at the Shangri-La Heera Panna shopping mall at Oshiwara, Mumbai, highlighted the fact that it is not enough for shopping centres just to have fire-fighting equipment. It is absolutely crucial that the equipment is well-maintained and ready for use, and that staff are adequately trained on the use of the installed equipment and other fire safety measures. A non-functional water-riser system, coupled with the badly maintained fire-fighting equipment at the Oshiwara shopping mall, made it very difficult for firemen.  It took them nine hours to douse the fire.  They had to bulldoze a basement wall, and 15 fire engines had to be deployed to control the fire.  As per the media, about 15,000 TV sets were stored in the basement, which was actually meant for car parking. No water was stored in the static fire water storage tank.

When Indian mall developers are too keen to make a lot of mall from this business, why do they just copy paste glitzy finishes from developed markets, instead of also copying public safety and hygiene standards?

Is it because there are no strict guidelines or proper safety norms?  Or because there isn’t anyone to monitor any standards?  Or simply because we just don’t care.   After all, with a population of 1100 million, how does it matter if 1100 were to lose their life?

Copying international safety standards will not serve the purpose, because most developed markets with successful shopping centres have little experience of handling the large numbers of visitors that many popular Indian malls get, especially on weekends.  Managing such large crowds needs an altogether different approach, especially when it comes to safety and security.

In India, parents lovingly let their children move up and down in an escalator, for the sheer fun of it and even enjoy the sight with ultimate parental satisfaction; pedestrians simply walk aimlessly in parking areas, being blissfully oblivious of where the pedestrian walkways are (if there are any), or where the driveways are.

The need of the hour is to put in place very strict safety guidelines.  It is high time that we start working towards creating our own safety norms for shopping centres, taking the necessary inputs from international standards and experience.

The nine most potentially dangerous areas in the Indian context are:

1. Pedestrian vs. Vehicular movement, inside and outside mall buildings.
2. Lifts
3. Escalators
4. Parking Areas
5. Fire Safety
6. Health & Hygiene – specially in Food Preparation & Service Areas
7. Railings & similar fixtures around atriums and cut-outs
8. Public Restrooms and other common facilities
9. Children Play Areas and other Entertainment Zones

Lifts

In the 2008 case at the popular Bangalore mall, where an elevator crash landed three floors down after moving up to the first floor from the lower basement, officials from the Karnataka Fire & Emergency Services Department, who inspected the elevator, found that there were 13 people with an estimated total weight of 925 kgs, while the elevator had the capacity to carry only 8 persons with only 544 kg weight.

Under such circumstances, why can’t we have automated safety measures which ensure that the lift will not operate if it is overloaded?  Also, realizing that the average weight of the human on this planet has gone up in the past few decades, the western world is making and installing lifts with a weight carrying capacity of 75 kgs per person, while our malnourished nation continues with the age old norm of 68 kgs per person. Are we in Ethiopia?

We need a law that elevators in shopping centres and other public buildings should have a minimum weight carrying capacity of 750 kgs, and each elevator should have latest safety approvals in USA, Japan and the EU.  If we can follow this principle for vehicle emission standards, why not for elevators?  If five-star hotels can install the latest generation elevators, why not shopping centre developers?

Escalators

At Varanasi in May 2008, eight-year old Annu fell to his death while stepping off the escalator on the second floor of a shopping centre.  Indians are not used to using escalators. So, shopping centre owners and managers need to have volunteers to train people on their use, at least for six months after a new centre opens.

A number of factors affect escalator design, including physical requirements, location, traffic patterns, safety considerations, and aesthetic preferences. The ability of the building infrastructure to support the heavy components is also a critical physical concern.  Furthermore, up and down escalator traffic should be physically separated and should not lead into confined spaces.

The carrying capacity of escalators in a shopping centre must match the expected peak traffic demand, presuming that passengers ride single-file.  Staircases should be located adjacent to escalators, if escalators are the primary means of transport between floors.  It may also be necessary to provide an elevator adjacent to an escalator for disabled persons, senior citizens and babies in prams.

Parking Lots

In India, there is usually only 1.5 to 2.0 parking spots per 1000 square feet of retail space, which is 30-40% of what is required by international standards.  Also, while parking lots in many shopping centres abroad have a well-defined pedestrian pathway, this is absent in India.  Even ramp widths in Indian malls are sometimes inadequate.  Lighting, either too little or the wrong kind, is often a problem in parking lots.

Pedestrians should not be allowed in to  parking lots. Only shoppers with parking ticket or pass should be able to enter the parking lot from the main retail area of a shopping centre.  There should be proper signage to lead visitors to the right cluster of bays within parking lots.

How many times have you found yourself in a multi-level parking lot (or MLCP), hopelessly looking for your car, “was it on the 3^rd or 5^th level, was it F or D row??

The speed limit for cars and bi-wheelers within parking lots (and even other external places within the compound of a shopping centre, where pedestrians could be walking about) should be restricted to 10 kmph.

Fire Safety

A fire hazard can be caused due to multiple sources of origin – electrical wiring, cooking at food courts or restaurants, carpeting at multiplexes, smoking, etc.  Even though we have fire safety rules as per the National Building Code, and have seen fire extinguishers hanging on walls or lying in some corner in malls, we are not sure whether:

1. The fire safety systems are in working order.
2. The fire extinguishers are refilled as necessary.
3. The sprinkler system works.
4. There is regular maintenance.
5. There is a Fire Safety Officer in the mall.
6. Security personnel and other staff members are adequately trained on how to act in a fire emergency situation.
7. Anyone really cares?

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued notices to 22 malls in Mumbai on 29^th March 2010, for violation of fire safety norms. The civic body reviewed fire safety norms in 55 malls in the city and has asked 22 malls to comply.

Regular unannounced mock fire drills need to be part of any fire safety system in a public building, so that public is aware of what to do and the staff are always on their guard, apart from being adequately and practically trained.  Let us also put clear signage on each floor showing where Fire Exits are.

Unless we want another tragedy like Upahar cinema in Delhi or the school in Tamil Nadu.  After all, like I said before, what’s 1100 fatalities in a country of 1100 million.

Railings & Similar Fixtures

The Telegraph, reporting on the death of a 6-year old boy in a Bangalore mall, who slipped four floors down through the gap where the handrail ends, observed that this incident “may have shed light on a possible lethal flaw in shoppers’ havens, though it isn’t clear if every mall has a gap between the escalator handrail and the floor railings. … Even the balcony railings of the mall have huge gaps, more than a foot high and about a foot and a half wide. Some of these gaps, big enough for very young children to slip through, are covered by glass sheets but many are open.”

The Hindu, on 3^rd July 2007, quoted a retired town planner, who said that “such safety lacunae in buildings were mainly because of absence of appropriate knowledge about the delicate issues of engineering and architecture, among the town planners, who approve the building plan. Also to blame is the failure of constant inspections during construction of such buildings and before issuing NOC. Even post-construction inspections were not adequate”.

Such accidents are also an eye-opener for parents who let their children run about the malls while they shop till they drop.

Public Restrooms

In a study by Kimberly-Clark, 39% of survey respondents in USA feared picking up germs in a public restroom more than any other place. Nothing can be truer than this in the Indian context.  Foul odors, lack of supplies and puddles on the floors can all be signs of improper maintenance. A modern washroom should have the following features:

• Chemical-lined dispenser bin in each of the ladies’ WCs.
• Door-less entry (labyrinth entrance)
• Sensor operated fixtures
• In the Indian context, a health faucet (bum washer spray)
• A countertop changing area

Hidden restrooms are perfect spots for robbers, because they are away from the view of other customers. Further, they may become areas for people to gather, and in some cases even use drugs.

Other potential accident areas

Children Play Areas:  Kids’ play areas should always be enclosed properly.  The interiors of these areas should not have any things with sharp edges.

Food Court: Have proper fire safety systems and garbage disposal systems.  Ensure regular food-grade disinfectant use to prevent bacteria. Regular pest / rodent control is a must.  Operators who do not dispose off garbage properly need to be severely penalized by centre management.

Last, but not the least, it is high time for us Indians to realize and understand that, although providing safety and security is an integral responsibility of shopping centre developers, owners and managers, as well as the retailers who operate in the malls, it is also our individual responsibility to take ownership of our own actions.

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Amit Bagaria is founder Chairman of three companies. Award winning Asipac Projects is India’s leading mall planning, development and leasing consultant, which has conceptualized and marketed six of India’s 15 largest malls.  Asipac Mall Services is a new mall management company.  Arus Retail has promoted Men&Boys, India’s first retail chain exclusively dedicated to men’s cosmetics.  Amit has been a speaker or anchor at many Indian and global events, co-authored a college textbook on planning and published several articles on malls and real estate.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Articles in Shopping Centre News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.