Should we let shopping malls to crowd City centres or allow them only in the suburbs or on the outskirts? A mall is meant to offer a comfortable and complete shopping experience, coupled with entertainment and food options, to the consumer. And perhaps the most important element of all - parking space.

But the way malls are ‘sited’ in the City, this is unlikely to happen. Take the Residency Road-Commissariat Road-Richmond Road circuit. There are at least three big and a smaller mall within a kilometre-radius.

Garuda, intended only as a mechanised, multi-storey parking bay to ease the traffic burden of Bangalore's central district, was later permitted a little commercial activity to make it a financially viable project. However, today it has turned fully commercial; even the basement parking is restricted to its customers. The buck doesn’t  stop at the City Corporation official who permitted this total makeover without requisite safety clauses.

At the centre of the ongoing mall safety debate is the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, which is the final clearing authority before a mall actually opens shop. BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya says there is need to distinguish between system failure due to lack of maintenance and accidents which could occur even in a home environment. Friday's elevator crash at Garuda is a clear case of system failure as the lift door should not close if there is an overload.

In the case of little Ahan, who died from a fall from the fourth floor, it is not a case of parental negligence or ‘boyish hyperactivity’. Malls by design have scripted disorientation cues in its environs and even an adult could be affected by its features. Hence, it is a question of foolproof and functional safety measures being in place.
On revised safety guidelines, Mr Subramany says the focus will be on the acute congestion in the vicinity of malls due to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The BBMP has also received complaints of accidents in toilets and access problems for the disabled and the aged. Evacuation measures in emergencies are also looked out.