In places such as Avarampalayam or Ganapathi, 100s of micro units operate out of one or two room workshops. A building might house three or four such units too. Ask them about fire safety measures and the reply is that there has never been a need to look at it.
“Since we operate lathes and machinery we give importance to wiring. So, we have never had any fire accident and have never thought of the need to go in for fire safety measures,” says one of the micro unit association representatives.
Larger industries need to get fire licence and renew it every year. During the time of renewal, officials concerned inspect it. However, it is not possible to inspect every small industry in the city and fire safety measures should come as a self-commitment, said an official of the Fire and Rescue Service Department.
“It does not stop with inspection. We give a check-list and later need to ensure that all the measures given in the list have been adopted. It is a long process,” the official says. However, the smaller units can register at the local fire station.
In the case of multi-storeyed buildings too, the structures are inspected based on the application.
Rajesh B. Lund, president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India - Coimbatore, says fire safety awareness has improved among property developers. However, there are still buildings, especially commercial ones, coming up in non-plan areas they do not follow the norms and do not have the safety measures, he adds.
Electrical consultant P.S. Subramaniam says that in the recent years small fires are reported in apartment complexes and independent houses too. This is because of the use of unbranded gadgets such as mobile phone chargers or poor maintenance of the UPS system. Houses should have small fire extinguishers and apartments should have one in every floor.
While adding an electrical equipment/gadget the distribution board should be checked. He also suggested larger use of smoke sensors and periodical check of earthing.
