A gutted room at the building of directorate of agriculture and food production (below) in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 7: The fire that broke out in a building of the directorate of agriculture and food production has raised concerns about the fire safety measures in major buildings of the city.

Though the fire did not cause much damage, it could pave the way for better fire security. At present, most buildings lack adequate fire safety mechanism.

“Some files were burnt but we escaped a major damage,” said R.S. Gopalan, director of agriculture and food production. He said the mishap, nonetheless, was a wake-up call. “Soon, we will be installing state-of- art fire security equipment including circuit breakers to minimise risks in the future,” he said.

The fire, which broke out on Thursday morning, damaged the engineering section and section 10 and 12 of the directorate.

Though the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, a short circuit is believed to be behind it. According to guidelines of National Building Code of India, 2005, any building taller than 15 metres needs to have fire security arrangements. They need to have at least two staircases for evacuation in case of a mishap. Along with this, there should be an automatic fire detection system and a fire lift so that firemen can easily access all parts of the building. There should be overhead or underground tanks and hose pipes to tackle fire. Fire extinguishers also need to be refilled regularly.

But the heads of department building, popularly known as Na-tala, which caught fire, had none of these. The fire extinguishers had not been refilled since their installation in the wake of 1999 supercyclone. “The building is so crowded that it is almost impossible to vacate people in case of an emergency. Firemen trying to douse the fire would also find themselves cramped for space,” said a senior officer of fire prevention department.

The building is also vulnerable to fire as several tea shops are in business on the premises. “Everyone is aware that tea shops are located inside the building but no one has ever tried to evict them,” said a senior officer working in the agriculture and food production directorate.

Fire prevention officer R.C. Mohapatra said the authorities haD shown scant regard for fire control measures. “We have been sending letters to the concerned authorities to take concrete steps for fire prevention. But nothing has been done so far. Earlier, the government had decided to set up a fire prevention unit for this building, the state secretariat and the Assembly, but that is yet to come up,” he added. Apart from government buildings, several other high-rises flout norms with regard to fire security. “We ensure fire prevention measures before giving clearance to any building,” said P.K. Pattnaik, planning member of Bhubaneswar Development Authority.

Orissa Fire Service Act was passed in 1993 but rules under it are yet to be framed. Hence, the law remains a dead letter.

“The Act was passed but rules were not framed. This is a major reason why safety norms are being violated,” said S. Sethy, fire officer-cum-principal of the State Fire Training Institute, Bhubaneswar. Three fire mishaps have taken place in the city during the last two months.