UT fails to implement fire safety recommendations

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

The fire at the Haryana transport office in 30 Bays building in Sector 17 last night has once again brought to the fore the failure of the UT to implement  19 recommendations on fire safety in Sector 17 buildings.

The recommendations had been made by a committee constituted to look into the reasons that led to the inferno at the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) office in Sector 17 on June 8 last year.

In its report, the committee, under the then Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Tanvi Garg, had sought random checking of the buildings. The directions given to the Municipal Corporation and the Fire Department to conduct a joint survey with the Estate Office are yet to be implemented. 

Similarly, the provision for an obstruction-free 6-metre-wide motorable passage around the buildings, pruning of trees for free movement of the hydraulic ladder during a firefighting operation and removal of encroachments from staircases, balconies, lobbies and corridors used as escape routes are yet to be implemented.

The Chief Fire Officer, who is one of the members of the committee, had sought  removal of wooden partitions and non-parking zones in fire lanes around the buildings. Apart from periodic checking after a span of five years, the committee had pointed out that the present set-up of the SDE (Buildings) in the Estate Office was not suffice to check the violations and structure stability, and needed to be upgraded. 

Survey at Bank Square yet to be completed

The UT Estate Office has failed to complete a survey that was launched in July last year to ascertain violation of building bylaws on the premises of banks in Sector 17, especially those at Bank Square.

The survey had been launched after a fire broke out in the regional office of Syndicate Bank in Sector 17, where the firefighting operations were hampered due to building violations.

After the survey had started, the Estate Officer had asked for joint teams of the Estate Office and the MC for the survey. However, the committee was never formed and the survey is still incomplete.

A preliminary survey by the UT had revealed major building violations. Some of the banks had blocked the emergency exit routes. They have made cabins and have placed waste material and stationery in the exit routes.

Around 20 banks have their branches or regional headquarters in Sector 17. 

Government offices spared

The UT has not adopted a strict approach in respect of building violations in government offices in Sector 17. Last year, UT Estate Officer Mohammed Shayin had initiated a move to get all encroachments in balconies cleared, but with little success.