The State government has taken the May 10 fire accident in the Autonagar Industrial Area here as a wake-up call and initiated measures to avert such incidents in potentially vulnerable areas. All the public places with potential for huge crowd will be screened for fire audit, according to Krishna Collector B. Lakshmi Kantham.
For record, fire engulfed at least four manufacturing units and caused huge property loss in the Autonagar industrial area.
Timely action had averted further damage to the surrounding industrial units and lives of workers.
Magisterial probe
The accident area is also in the close vicinity of premium realty projects which are at advanced stages of development. Any change in the direction of wind could have caused much bigger damage to the industries and the surrounding residential areas, according to the workers who witnessed the fire accident.
Speaking to The Hindu on the issue, Mr. Lakshmi Kantham said, “A magisterial probe has been ordered to find out the reasons behind the accident and the report will be submitted in a week.
Meanwhile, we are seeking a fire audit report of all the places that are likely to have public gatherings. We are serious about it as any such mishap in the city could be a major disaster.”
In the coming few days, places like schools, colleges, shopping malls and Rythu Bazaars will be audited by a team of officials from Fire, Revenue, Police and other departments to fix the issues related to fire safety and other aspects of disaster management, according to him.
As per the available information, many of the public and private establishments in the city do not conform to the fire safety norms.
Even the manufacturing units which were gutted in the recent accident do not have the mandatory second access road, according to the fire officials who took part in the rescue operation.
