Over 3,000 fire mishaps in 4 months

“Even as fire-fighting equipment has been made mandatory for new buildings,many residential buildings,including highrises,do not adhere to norms,” said another official.

Last week,a 21-storied highrise in Andheri’s posh Four Bungalows was found violating fire-safety norms. The Fire Brigade found there were no fire-fighting equipment despite occupancy in the building.

The rise in the number of fire incidents this year is alarming considering last year’s data,when 1,200 incidents were reported from May to October,said a fire official.

While BMC regularly checks malls,multiplexes and commercial complexes for any violation of fire safety norms,many incidents happen in residential buildings which are not checked on a regular basis. Owing to lack of staff in the Mumbai Fire Brigade,the state government has now appointed fire safety auditors to check violations in highrises. Eighty such private agencies have been appointed as third party auditors.