Fire prevention is the collective responsibility of the residents, developers, BMC ward level staff and the fire brigade. Citizens must follow safety rules and must keep all fire-fighting equipment in working condition to avoid fatalities, said Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashiwini Bhide during an interaction at the Free Press Journal office on Tuesday.
Best plan to tackle fires is prevention: Bhide
When her attention was drawn to the increasing number of fire incidents in high-rises, she said, “The best plan to tackle fires in high-rises is to aim at prevention. In the future, the buildings will go taller and taller. There is no high-reach equipment available to douse fires. People are talking about drones but they can be used only for surveillance. In developed countries, they use helicopters to douse fires in tall buildings but here we have not reached that stage. The Mumbai fire brigade has good quality equipment but there are limitations.”
Bhide said the first priority is to save lives, so evacuation happens before dousing. During that time loss of property occurs and therefore we need to work hard on prevention, which is the responsibility of citizens, she said.
Bhide stresses on fire-safety audits every six months
“Developers who construct high-rises have huge funds and invest a lot on projects, so they can adopt good fire safety measures. Many developers also provide fire-fighting equipment. The problem is in operations, though. Developers install fancy fire equipment like sprinklers, evacuation lifts and refuge areas but when society gets formed, they don’t spend on upkeep,” she said.
Stressing on fire safety audits every six months, self-declaration and training in operation of equipment, Bhide said the prevention is not the fire brigade’s responsibility but to address fire incidents. The BMC, for its part, can raise awareness and issue advisories, but that too needs to be followed by citizens.
Bhide said the BMC will not give exemption in fire safety requirements to any developer. “Over 80% fires erupt due to faulty cable wiring and electrical equipment. There is some fault in the meter rooms, transformers and electrical equipment like air conditioners; those need to be fixed first by housing societies,” she said.
