24 Jan 2022  |   05:16am IST

Fire safety always takes a back seat in India

Fire safety always takes a back  seat in India

The fire that erupted in a multi-storey building near Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai early morning on Saturday killing at least six people and injuring 28 others has put the focus on fire safety in high-rise buildings again. This is not an isolated case. Every now and then we hear the news of fire outbreak in tall buildings across India. The multiple floors of a high-rise building create the cumulative effect of requiring great numbers of persons to travel great vertical distances on stairs in order to evacuate the building. The public, code bodies, local, State and Union governments, as well as the design, build, and ownership communities are all affected by high-rise building safety.

The fire accident in the 24-storey Grenfell tower in London, in June 2017, claimed over 70 lives and injured 79 people. It is one of the worst disasters in the world and the incident threw light on fire safety concerns in high rise buildings across the globe. In India, the horrific Carlton Towers accident in Bengaluru in the year 2011, took the lives of nine and injured 69 people. Also, Kamala Mills fire accident in Mumbai which claimed 14 lives gave a burning concern over the fire safety in India.

The responsibility also lies with the real estate industry which has seen a tremendous growth in the last two decades. There are many fully occupied high-rise or multi-storey buildings in major cities or many are still under construction. It is important that in all high-rise buildings fire safety must get a top priority. In India a building above 15 metres in height is considered commonly as a high-rise building which could be in the form of apartments, malls, hospitals or multiplexes, etc.

Also, construction of new high-rise buildings has created new challenges for the fire fighters. Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), experts and fire brigade officials have told media said that the negligence in compliance of fire safety measures from housing societies or developers and poor implementation of Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006 are among the few reasons for making the buildings vulnerable to fire hazards.

Media reported that according to data from the MFB (till October 2021), fire brigade officials had randomly inspected 1,526 buildings, including 52 high-rises, over 20 months to check fire safety measures. Of these, 327 buildings were issued notices for non-compliance with fire safety while the remaining were either in process of compliance or had complied with the measures.

The Fire Act clearly mentions that housing societies and commercial establishments must submit fire audit reports (Form B) every six months with the fire services department. Is this strictly followed? If yes, then does the Fire Services Department work on the report submitted and survey the buildings which may have concerns? These are the questions which land in grey area. However, fire officials do conduct random inspections of the premises for fire audits.

For firefighters who are equipped with firefighting gear like tall ladders, breathing apparatus, helmets, hose lines, etc, it becomes very tough to climb ten or 20 floors to carry out rescue and firefighting. One needs to understand the importance of these firefighting systems.

The question raised is when you plan to watch a movie in a multiplex, have you ever considered making a note of the fire exits? The similar question can be asked when you enter a hotel or a restaurant. If you live in an apartment, have you ever checked the fire safety system of the building? These are important for all the customers and the residents to know and make all aware since during fire hazard the smoke bellows and it becomes difficult to see beyond an arm’s distance. Japanese normally lie down flat on the floor with wet cloth on their face to avoid smoke which is the ultimate killer in fire hazards. Also, when entering a new building one must ensure that they are aware of emergency exits.

Unfortunately, fire safety always takes a back seat in India. Majority of the population are still not aware of the fire hazards or they do not even know how to react when there is a fire. The reason for this is because there are very few training and fire drills. Most importantly, such fire drills should be carried out in schools periodically so that the children are aware of basic dos and don’ts during such hazards. They can also carry forward their experience and share with their family.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar