HIGH RISK HIGH-RISES: Buildings flouting fire safety norms are just accidents waiting to happen.

HYDERABAD: Cyberabad, for all the pompous claims about its high-tech environs, is not fire safety-secured.

Cyberabad, the hub of Hyderabad's real estate boom, has just 65 buildings that have a no objection certificate from the Fire Department, which is issued after ensuring that the buildings do comply with prescribed fire safety measures.

The 65 buildings, which on paper are safe from fire accidents, are mostly the software firms in Cyber Tower and its different phases.

Danger lurking

And this, Fire Department officials say, points out the danger lurking around in the larger area beyond the software layouts in Madhapur.

Out of the 2,400 buildings in and around the State capital that were identified by the department as unsafe, 810 are from Ranga Reddy district, including those in Cyberabad. "Notices were issued to 321 of these, out of which 189 are those in Ranga Reddy," Director General (Fire Services) Alok Srivastava says. Of the 189, the only known software name is that of Satyam Computers (Survey No.12, Kondapur).

The deficiencies that invited the notice (11290/B1/03, February 2006) are lack of necessary open spaces and means of escape.

In fact, it is not just the lack of NOCs that put Cyberabad in the dock regarding fire safety.

With no fire station anywhere in the vicinity, the cyber capital of the State has had a lucky existence all these years.

`Not their game'

"In case of a fire accident in Cyberabad, it would take at least 90 minutes for a fire engine to reach the spot," says Mr. Srivastava. And that is a very long time to wait during a fire mishap.

Though most of the IT firms there are equipped with fire extinguishers and fire escapes, putting out a fire would certainly not be their game.

The situation, finally, has prompted the Government to sanction a fire station in Cyberabad, for which the foundation stone was laid recently.

The Fire Department is also planning to shift the Ranga Reddy district fire office to the Cyberabad Fire Station, which is expected to be ready by March 2007 for better monitoring.

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