Next time you are at P&M Hi-Tech City Centre Mall, just hope you can safely find your way out in case of an emergency.

Visitors said malls should ideally be equipped to handle emergencies within a minimum response time, but a basic oversight by P&M Hi-Tech City Centre Mall in Bistupur had a different story to tell.

The mall, where the crowd count touches 20,000 on weekends, has four elevators and six staircases.

However, visitors are barred from using the stairs in the basement by a sign that reads “Do not enter.”

“P&M mall is a disaster waiting to happen. The staircases were found to be locked whenever I have visited the place. Stairs are used as emergency exits especially in case of fire, but what would people do if they are inaccessible?” XLRI professor Sanjeev Varshney said.

Varshney said the contradictory safety signs made matters worse.

A sign near the stairs reads “In case of fire, use the stairway to exit”, but below that is written “Do not enter.”

Mala Mandhyan, a faculty member of KMPM Vocational College, also had a similar complaint.

“I don’t think the elevators are enough to handle such a crowd. We usually wait for 15-20 minutes to get into the elevator. Once we wanted to take the stairs, but found that the access was barred,” she said.

Mall officials said the case of locked staircases was “purely accidental”.

“We are fully equipped to handle every situation. Staircases are never locked. The fact, you can exit the mall using the stairs, but cannot go in because we don’t have frisking points there. If customers weren’t been able to use the stairs, it was accidental. However, we will take better precautions,” said Shubhoji Pakrasi,vice-president of the mall.