City saw 3,193 fires in 4 months: Report

The city witnessed 3,193 fires in 122 days (from March to June 2011), which is an average of over 25 fire incidents a day, according to the fire brigade's department report.

The city witnessed 3,193 fires in 122 days (from March to June 2011), which is an average of over 25 fire incidents a day, according to the fire brigade's department report.

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The report said most of the incidents have occurred because of a short circuit. The consolidated report of incidents of fire in the city has been submitted to the civic standing committee on Tuesday. The Hindustan Times has obtained a copy of the report.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), however, said the fires were caused because of overloaded cables. SS Shinde, joint municipal commissioner (fire brigade) said, "I will have to check on the numbers. But most of the fires occurred because the electricity systems were defective.

"We will inspect the electricity gazettes in private properties to check if they are overloaded. Such gazettes should be upgraded within 120 days," Shinde added.

"We can easily check whether the gazettes are overloaded. If the number of units has risen, then the cables must be upgraded. An overloaded cable may lead to sparks," said a fire brigade official on the condition of anonymity.

Of 3,193 incidents maximum, 1,004 fires were recorded in the month of June. "Normally short circuits take place because of rains," said another fire official, on condition of anonymity.

In order to avoid fire incidents in high-rise buildings, the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, makes it compulsory for new buildings to have fire fighting equipment such as a fire extinguisher and a bi-annual certification from a licensed agency with regards to upgrading the system.

A report is then to be submitted to the fire brigade department. There is a provision for the prosecution of agencies and parties that submit fake or faulty certificates.

The law also makes it mandatory for every commercial building, which is taller than 30m, to have a fire officer and fire personnel trained by the Maharashtra Fire Academy.