BMC cancels building’s OC, gives 60 days for firefighting system

A minor fire that broke out on the 21st floor of the building last Friday turned into a blaze spreading to the lower floors and trapping 33 firefighters, who were rescued in a seven-hour operation.

A probe team said the owner or developer of the building had violated several conditions of the Mumbai Fire Brigade’s no-objection certificate (NOC). Initial investigations revealed that many floors in the building had no fire doors and that neither the wet risers, the sprinklers nor the smoke detection systems were functional.

“As the firefighting systems were not functional, the firemen had to heavily rely on their external firefighting equipment and also carry water pipes to the top floors of the buildings. This proved to be a major hindrance and further aggravated problems for the brigade,” Deshmukh said.

The civic administration also said that the gumboots worn by the firemen during the rescue operations last week were old. Additional municipal commissioner Mohan Adtani, at the BMC’s standing committee meeting on Wednesday, said, “Though the firemen are provided with gumboots of international standards, the ones used for the rescue mission last Friday were old. We have set up a probe to look into details and will soon get the report.”

In pipeline: three 90-metre snorkels

The civic body has decided to purchase two more 90-metre snorkels from a company in Finland to conduct safety operations for skyscrapers in the city. “We have already finalised a proposal to purchase one snorkel worth Rs 19 crore and are in the process of coming up with another proposal for two more. By the end of the year, there will be one snorkel each in the city, eastern suburbs and the western suburbs,” Deshmukh said. The 62-meter snorkel used by the fire brigade in Andheri could reach only up to the 15th floor, a civic official said.

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