2-week deadline for shopping malls in Chennai

Following several deadly accidents in shopping malls in Chennai, the Chennai district administration has given these commercial centres a two-week ultimatum to obtain a license under the public buildings act, failing which the owner can be put behind bars.

A 10-year-old boy died in April after his school bag got stuck in the moving handrail of an escalator at the Express Avenue mall and a 23-year-old was injured when he jumped off the fourth floor at the Forum Vijaya Mall last week.

According to TOI, an official from Chennai district administration said that the licensing act, 1965 deals with safety norms in public buildings, and several shopping malls in the city are ignorant of obtaining license.