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In absence of fire audits, premises in Ludhiana remain powder kegs waiting to go off
With a fire audit long overdue, stakeholders are often negligent when it comes to implementing safety protocols, which puts lives and material possessions at risk.
The major fire that broke out at Swami Vivekanand Vihar Flats near DAV School, BRS Nagar, has yet again cast the spotlight on the vulnerability of residential and commercial premises across the industrial hub.
With a fire audit long overdue, stakeholders are often negligent when it comes to implementing safety protocols, which puts lives and material possessions at risk.
Asked whether fire safety equipment had been installed in the high-rise residential building, a senior fire official said, “The building did have fire safety equipment such as hose pipes and fire hydrants, but they had been defunct for years and were of no use to the fire department. We had to lay down water pipes from the ground floor to the fifth floor to douse the flames, which delayed the operation.”
Another firefighter said, “The firefighting operation would have been much smoother had the fire hydrants and fire safety systems installed in flats been in working condition. We would just have had to attach a pipe, and the sprinklers would have turned on. Flats and industrial buildings, which store flammable chemicals, are at high risk of fire and should not forego fire safety measures.”
Swami Vivekanand Vihar Welfare Society secretary Vinay Gupta said, “We had installed fire safety systems in flats, but as we had never needed to use them before, they had developed a glitch,” he said.
Pertinently, several senior officials, including joint commissioner of police Narinder Bhargav, zonal commissioner Jasdev Sekhon and firefighters had a close shave after a gas cylinder exploded in one of the apartments ablaze.
There are around 1 lakh industrial and commercial buildings in the city, and there are several flats in and around the city, particularly Chandigarh Road, BRS Nagar, and Sant Ishar Singh Nagar. However, the civic body is yet to take concrete steps to ensure that fire safety norms are not disregarded.
Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had announced a fire audit of buildings after a plastic factory near Suffiyan Chowk collapsed after a fire broke out on the premises. Sixteen people had lost their lives in the tragedy.
On the possibility of the fire department carrying out an audit in near future, an official, privy to the matter, said, “It is impossible for the fire brigade to carry out an audit because of paucity of staff, and even if we conduct inspections, legal action cannot be taken against the owners.”
The official, cited above, said fire safety norms will only be followed strictly after a separate fire directorate is established in the state, and fire officials are given the authority to take action against defaulters.
However, municipal corporation commissioner Shena Aggarwal said the state government is working to enact a fire safety act and a separate fire directorate. “A proper fire safety audit will be conducted in the city after the directorate is established. Meanwhile, directions will be issued to officials concerned to make sure that fire safety norms are followed in apartments and other high-rise buildings in different parts of the city.”
