The Kalbadevi tragedy has brought back into focus the proposed ‘Fire Act Cell’ comprising 99 officials of the fire department whose job would be to conduct fire safety audits and prepare a GIS map of all structures in the city. Two years after it was first proposed, the Mumbai Fire Brigade is yet to constitute the cell. Fire officials have cited technical and bureaucratic delays for holding up its formation. The cell was mooted by the fire brigade in 2013 as they were finding it difficult to inspect over 3.8 lakh structures in Mumbai. [related-post] According to the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, all building owners / societies are expected to submit fitness certificates of the safety equipment in their buildings twice a year, in January and July. Fire officials, however, often cite lack of cooperation and awareness on part of citizens to submit compliance reports or conduct audits. Of the 6,296 structures inspected in the last four years, only 138 have complied with some shortcomings, according to data released by RTI activist Sharad Yadav. There are only 45 buildings from the island city and 93 from both the western and eastern suburbs that are fully compliant. The data also shows that 2,140 civilians and 63 fire officers were injured in incidents between 2010 to 2013. A senior fire official said, “There are more than three lakh buildings in the city, which makes it difficult for the fire brigade to visit each building and conduct an independent audit for fire safety equipment. The idea to constitute the cell was to meet these shortcomings. We also have to conduct online examinations for the appointment of these officials. We are expecting to complete it by this year end.” The lack of such an audit and a fitness certificate was evident in the case of Gokul Nivas, which collapsed on Saturday. The four-storey structure did not have an internal fire-fighting system, and the wooden staircase and inflammable materials stored inside only aggravated the situation. mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
