Nagpur: The Fire and Emergency Services Department of NMC has made fire audit compulsory for buildings having height more than 15 feet. Those neglecting this diktat would face the heat from the Fire Brigade. In fact, the Fire Department has issued notices to over 70 buildings in the month of March alone. If the corrective measures including Fire Audit are not taken, the water and power connections of such buildings would be snapped, warned the NMC’s Fire Department, reports in the media said.
The buildings issued notices include hotels, restaurants, beer bars, malls, big showrooms and others. The tools aimed at fighting incidents of fire have been found non-functional in many entities. According to Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act 2015, steps are must for the prevention, control and fighting of fire and for ensuring the safety of life and property in case of fire. The Fire Act requires building owners and occupants to install fire-fighting measures and ensure proper evacuation measures in the case of a fire emergency. Offences under the Act could be punished with imprisonment of not less than 6 months and may extend to 3yYears and with fine Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 50,000
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Wednesday 06 Nov. 2024
Fire Audit is must in two years:
According to rules, before construction of structures having height more than 15 feet, No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Brigade is mandatory. After completion of construction, fire mock drill twice a year is necessary. The NMC’s Fire and Emergency Services Department in its Fire Audit has found that the fire-fighting measures in several buildings are just for show-off.
A couple of years back, Nagpur Today had reported that lack of adherence to fire-fighting norms in most hotels, restaurants, bars etc in the city made them vulnerable to fire hazards and would ultimately make rescue difficult.
Several fire safety norms laid down by the Fire Department for hotels, which are normally full of people are either violated or never followed. The hotels are required to have fire safety equipment like extinguishers, sprinklers, water tank on the roof and smoke detectors and the rules state that exit routes should be free and organized, however most norms are not followed by the hotel owners, on the pretext of their building being old.
