chennai t nagar is not safe just one of 10 highrise commercial complexes on usman road frequented by thousands of people daily provided an exit facility and a staircase a reply by the fire and rescue services department to a query under the rti act has said further not one of the buildings two saravana stores outlets pothys lalitha jewellery lks gold house saravana thangamaligai chennai silks fathima jewellery shree jewellery and sana stores at the junction of ramanathan street and rameswaram street holds a fire licence many dont even possess a hose reel automatic smoke detection system automatic extinguishing system sprinkler or side setback around the building to help fire engines move in it is shocking that major textile showrooms and jewellery marts are not keen on putting fire safety systems in place more disasters could be waiting to happen unless the government cracks down said a federation of t nagar residents welfare associations member in september 2008 when a fire raged through saravana stores on ranganathan street rescue services personnel had to go via madley road and natesan street to douse the flames saravana thangamaligai on usman road the public information officer of the fire and rescue services department said claimed had fire extinguishers hose reel wet riser and sprinklers but not all were in a working condition rmkv silks opposite panagal park had provided sprinklers partially and was the only one to have provided two exit facilities and staircases to escape fire while others remain inadequate water facilities are a must for firefighting operations but at least five textile and jewellery showrooms are illequipped in this regard a safety audit by the fire and rescue services personnel revealed that 90 of the buildings in t nagar especially on ranganathan street violated norms including on fire safety showcause notices sent to 38 shops on ranganathan street two years ago havent elicited a reply in the absence of stringent legal provisions tradersbuilders are not spending few lakhs of rupees to create fire safe environment in t nagar ranganathan street in particular official sources said unlike tneb or metrowater we dont have punitive provisions to take on defaulters these traders didnt rectify their mistakes nor complied with our rules they and havent asked for time to comply with said a fire and rescue services offcial traders claimed they had put safety mechanisms in place at least 10 permanent staff from each shop has trained at the fire and rescue services centre in tambaram our main objective is to ensure public safety than make money panagal park and usman road traders association secretary t sarathy told toi