Berhampur: Many of shopping malls, hotels and residential apartments in the city lack comprehensive and complete fire prevention and fire safety measures.
"Only five of the establishments out of 16 have sought more time to install the fire safety measures even after they were served third notice from the Odisha Fire Service. According to the law, the establishments can be served notice with two months deadline, second for a fortnight and third for another fortnight. But, it is a matter of great concern that only five of the establishments have replied to our notice," said southern region fire officer Jagga Rao, who is the head fire officer of 10 southern revenue districts.
However, Rao has cautioned of stringent action according to the law against these establishments when the deadline is over.
The fire service officers raided the buildings, including the City Mall at KK Complex, Hotel Nandan International, Epari Sadashiv, Hotel Mayuri Tower, Vishal Shopping Mall, Hotel Jyoti Residency, Sai Complex, Bhubaneswari Classic, Reliance Trends, Saraf Constructions on Aska Road, My Mart, Ganesh Residency at Prem Nagar, Lohiya Brothers, Nandighosh Apartment at Kamapalli, Metro Bazar and the Spectrum Heights on March 24.
The first notice was served on them on March 25 to take corrective measures within two months. But, none of the establishments responded. The third notice was served on them after they had remained silent on the second notice, said Rao.
"We selected these buildings considering the footfalls. The open spaces, corridors, escape routes and others were found to be blocked. Most of the buildings do not have adequate exit signage to lead the occupants to run for safety in case of any emergency," he said.
The Odisha Saree Centre at Hanuman Bazaar, which had been reduced to ashes after a major fire, had no fire safety measures put in place by the showroom management. "As such type of incidents are occurring frequently, we have issued notices to the business establishments, multi-storey apartments and shopping malls to adhere to the fire safety norms and obtain the no-objection certificates from the fire department," said a fire official.
The Odisha Fire Safety and Fire Prevention Rules came into force on October 4 last year, making it mandatory for hospitals, nursing homes, cinemas, malls, apartments to adhere to the fire safety norms. The regulation states that these buildings need several fire fighting measures, including wet risers, hose reel, automatic sprinkler systems and yard hydrants. Similarly, these establishments need to have terrace tanks, fire pumps, auto-detection systems, illuminated exit signs, manually operated electrical fire alarm systems, hose boxes with delivery hoses and branch. Besides, the establishments also need to have sufficient space for evacuation and operations of fire tenders, official sources said.
