The New Indian Express 15.04.2010
Bangalore: Still no fire audits of high rises
BANGALORE: More than 50 per cent of the high rises and commercial buildings in Bangalore need fire safety audits, said a senior officer of the Fire and Emergency Services (FES) who did not want to be named.
Soon after the Carlton Towers fire, the government had announced that fire auditing of all high rise buildings in the city will be conducted. Nearly two months later, however, the fire safety audits are yet to start in the city.
According to sources, in the Fire and Emergency Services Department, many building owners have violated fire safety norms.
“They have converted their buildings that were used for offices into hotels, bar and restaurants. A majority of these buildings are not equipped with fire extinguishers,” said a senior officer of Fire and Emergency Services who did not want to be named.
The safety audits conducted by Fire and Emergency Services for issuing fire licence or a No Objection Certificate mainly looks at the protection system — fire escapes, accessibility for fire fighters and fire engines to reach the remote and vulnerable points — available at the premises.
A comprehensive fire safety audit can cover various aspects related to design, operation and maintenance of the facilities and even the review of fire hazards associated with day to day business operations.
Fire at Halli Mane
In yet another fire incident reported in the city, the chimney of Halli Mane restaurant at Malleswaram 3rd cross, caught fire and caused panic among hotelier and customers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, no casualties were reported.
According to the Malleswaram police, the incident occurred at around 2.30 pm, when the chimney, due to the oil dust, caught fire. Police said the hotel staff were able to douse the fire even before the fire and emergency service arrived at the spot.
Who is responsible for safety?
An NOC from the Fire and Emergency Services (FES) is a pre-requisite for new buildings to get a the licence from BBMP.
However, FES has no role in licence renewal, it is solely at the discretion of BBMP. BBMP merely conducts routine check of buildings and renews the licence.
Jija Hari Singh, Director General of FES, told Express a proposal was sent to the government to grant the department power to conduct fire auditing of buildings after the Carlton Towers incident. “We are waiting for the government’s permission. We may require additional staff for audits,” she said.
BBMP Commissioner Bharatlal Meena said: “BBMP officials are not competent to do fire audits. It is the duty of FES. We will cooperate with them whenever necessary.”
BIA takes stock of fire safety
Bengaluru International Airport was the venue for some lessons in fire-fighting on Wednesday.
The airport’s rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) team held a training for 25 students of a government school in Yerthaganahalli, as part of the Fire Prevention Week at BIA. The annual campaign is being held with the primary focus on fire prevention awareness and safety measures for the staff, airlines, airport partners and concessioners of the airport.
What the airport has
BIA is equipped with CAT-9 level fire protection, as per International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.
ARFF, which comprises 130 men, is designed to meet a response time of 2 minutes to each end of the runway, and not above 3 minutes to any other location of the movement area in optimum visibility.
BIA also has four stateof- the-art airfield fire fighting vehicles, called Panthers, imported from Austria.
