Wankhede Stadium gets fire-safety approval

The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the venue for the World Cup final, has been given an all clear by the city's Fire Brigade to stage matches during the tournament.

Last week, the same body had asked the stadium authorities to undertake measures to improve the venue's fire-safety mechanism which wasn't in compliance with fire-safety norms. However, following a fourth inspection, a No Objection Certificate was issued to the venue on Tuesday after the systems in place were declared satisfactory.

"We have given NOC to the stadium. They have fulfilled all the fire safety norms at the stadium," deputy chief fire officer AN Shinde told PTI. "We have given them the compliance certificate. They can host matches. The stadium is safe and secure."

The Wankhede Stadium had been extensively remodelled in the lead-up to the World Cup. "The stadium had been issued an Occupation Certificate long back. So there was no question of withholding it. We had to verify whether the changes made at the stadium are similar with the existing fire safety norms and then issue an NOC," Shinde said.

Apart from the final, the Wankhede will host two World Cup group matches featuring New Zealand, Canada and Sri Lanka.