In April this year Delhi had over 1,000 high-rise buildings which lacked adequate fire safety norms and this startling fact emerged when pursuant to Delhi High Court directives, the Delhi Fire Service conducted a survey among 2,377 such buildings in the Capital.
Following the first phase of the random survey, DFS initiated action against the violators. It said show-cause notices were served on high-rise buildings lacking fire safety measures. Over a period of time, only 527 buildings complied with all the fire safety requirements and 748 buildings submitted affidavits undertaking that they would not use the portion of the structures beyond a particular height, thus they claimed to be converting themselves into ‘low-rise structures'.
Even after this, over a thousand buildings remained which could not comply with all the fire safety regulations. The DFS then resorted to punitive action and disconnected water and electricity supply to 930 of these buildings till April this year.
Besides, a number of government and private hospitals were also found by DFS to be lacking in complete adherence to safety norms. The shortcomings were identified in 16 of the 63 government hospitals and 11 of the 61 private ones. Since April 2006, 196 instances of fire have been reported in different hospitals. However, no one has been killed.
While hospitals have been on the priority list of the DFS, the department has also been focusing on compliance of safety measures in schools. “We have taken several measures in this regard and over 3,000 schools have applied for no-objection certificates, of which nearly 1,800 cases have been cleared,” said its Director A. K. Sharma.
With the notification of the Delhi Fire Service Act 2007 (2010 Rules) in July last year, he said, things are all set to undergo a drastic change in the city. “Under the old law, there was no provision for periodic review. It was only after receipt of a complaint that action could be initiated. However, the NOCs can now be reviewed every three years and accountability has also been fixed on owners of buildings, other than those occupied for residential purposes, to furnish an undertaking every year that all mandatory safety measures have been complied with,” said Mr. Sharma.
Another major change in the rules is a provision for mandatory appointment of trained Fire Safety Officers. “The 500-bed hospitals, 100-bed hotels and cinema halls having a seating capacity of a minimum of 1,000 are now required to appoint a Fire Safety Officer. As per law, they can induct any person possessing a requisite certification from the National Fire Service College (Nagpur) or they can approach us for training,” Mr. Sharma said. However, he admitted that “we have not received any such requests so far.”
“Since the Uphaar fire tragedy that claimed 59 lives, laws are being implemented strictly: so much so that in one case a cinema hall that did not comply with the norms could not screen films for three days,” he said.
Referring to the Kolkata hospital tragedy, in which most deaths were allegedly caused by asphyxiation, the DFS chief said smoke management systems should be installed on the roof and basement of new buildings and old buildings too if possible.
In Delhi, Mr. Sharma said a major concern in attending to fire calls was the ever increasing number of vehicles on the roads which came in the way of swift mobility of fight-fighting squads. To address this situation, DFS has also raised motorcycle units fitted with backpack-sized equipment running on water-mist technology to attend to calls in congested pockets.
