Marriott hotel sealed in Ahmedabad

Several guests were seen leaving the hotel after the sealing process began this afternoon. They have been shifted to alternative locations.

The hotel management said operations were temporarily on hold. It said in a statement,“The approval for the NOC of the property is pending. We are currently cooperating with the authorities during this procedure.”

The management said they were in the process of installing the required equipment.

Dastoor said the hotel had come up one and a half years ago,and its fire safety equipment had not been maintained properly. Sprinklers had stopped working,and the main pumps did not function on the day of the fire. The smoke vents were also not operational,he added.

A team of civic officials,including the municipal commissioner,deputy commissioner,town development officer and fire department officials,would visit the premises on Sunday morning.

“They were promising to comply by the instructions by Sunday. If they are found to have complied,the seals might be removed,” Dastoor said.

The fire NOC was cancelled on Thursday after a fire broke out in its gymnasium room on the third floor,filling the area with smoke. The steam bath unit in the gymnasium caught fire due to an electrical snag,a fire official said. The hotel reportedly neither had any natural ventilation system for the exit of smoke,nor was there any smoke evacuation system.

“We had asked the hotel management to create a natural ventilation system or get a smoke evacuation system installed in the interest of public safety.” When the management failed to do so,they had no option but to seal the premises,the official added.

Both Indian and Australian players were put up at this hotel when they were in the city for the cricket World Cup quarter final.