Living on the edge — Ahmedabad’s highrises are disasters waiting to happen

AHMEDABAD, AUG 2: Living in one of Ahmedabad's skyscrapers is akin to living on the edge, quite literally -- all one has to do is check t...

AHMEDABAD, AUG 2: Living in one of Ahmedabad’s skyscrapers is akin to living on the edge, quite literally — all one has to do is check the fire-fighting measures around. Most probably, there will be none! For, not even five per cent of the buildings in the city have sufficient fire-fighting arrangements.

Yes, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is there to enforce the safety norms. But, over the years, as skyscrapers have multiplied, it has done little more than hold meetings, conduct inspections and issuing harmless notices.

Officials admit that many of the buildings are virtual death traps, having no fire alarms, no hydrants or hoses, no fire escapes, and no pumps to raise water. The lay-out of many isn’t conducive to fire-fighting. Among such buildings are many well-known ones.

But all of them have water, power and sewerage connections. In early 1998, a survey, conducted on the orders of the Gujarat High Court, had found that as many as 266 of the 268 high-rise buildings in the city did nothave any fire-safety measure. In April 1998, the court was informed that a similar situation prevailed in the outlying areas in the jurisdiction of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA).

The case was filed by Lok Adhikar Sangh, a social organisation, after the Uphaar cinema tragedy in Delhi. According to advocate Girish Patel, chief fire officer of municipal fire brigade D A Gadhvi had then said that Ahmedabad also had many buildings, cinema halls and factories which did not conform to fire-safety norms.

On the court’s directions, building owners were asked to install safety equipment within 60 days. AMC held one meeting after another, the deadline expired, and the AMC then informed the court that it couldn’t decide against whom it should act — builders, contractors or associations of the users — because the builders had transferred the buildings to users.

Residents accuse builders of cheating and say that they should be taken to task. Alleges Rajitsinh Jhala, chairman of the residentsassociation of Fairdeal House, “The builder promised us fire extinguishers and an underground water tank of 3,000-litre capacity. But neither was there when he gave us possession.”

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The builders, on the other hand, blame owners. Rampurshottam Agrawal, builder of Fairdeal House, said the buyers were often unwilling to pay the cost of safety measures.

Usually, at the time of seeking fire-safety certificates, the builders installed the equipment; but once the certificate was given, the equipment was removed and installed into another building where a certificate was required.

Municipal Commissioner K Kailashnathan said they cannot seal or demolish the buildings because the matter is pending in court. But the chairman of a society said the least that AMC can do is to black-list builders and contractors who violate the norms and cheat people.