The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Government buildings under scanner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Government buildings under scanner

Staff Reporter

Only 18 buildings in the city are following fire safety regulations

No electricity and water for violators of fire safety rules
NOC from fire department must for all buildings

VISAKHAPATNAM: The District Fire Department is making concerted efforts to ensure the fire safety here.

The department has identified around 1,000 buildings including VUDA, LIC and Naval establishments that are not following fire safety regulations.

The buildings have not obtained the ‘No Objection Certificate.’

Major fire accidents reported in Visakhapatnam last year were due to the absence of fire prevention measures.

The Director of Fire Services, Andhra Pradesh Fire Services, Hyderabad P. Venkateshwar who was in the city on Friday said, “Earlier, we were only fire fighting department but now we have assumed the role of National Disaster Management Authority. We are educating people on preventing fire besides extinguishing it.”

“Only 18 buildings in the city are following the fire safety regulations. According to the GO, A.P. Genco, A.P. Transco and Water Supply Board can not give permanent connections for electricity or water at the time of occupancy to those who do not have an NOC,” he said.

Mock drills

District Fire Officer, P.V. Ramana said that notices have been served to the establishments and High Court has also given six months to the persons concerned to equip the buildings with fire safety equipments. According to A.P. Fire and Emergency and Levy of Fee Rules, any building above the height of 18 metres has to pay Rs.10 per square metre towards fire precautionary fund.

“A mock drill will be conducted at HPCL regarding the fire safety on August 23. A similar exercise was conducted at Amalapuram in East Godavari District. We will be taking up awareness programmes among officers, NSS workers, DWACRA groups and public soon”, he added. Fire Department will be inspecting buildings with six feet height or more and will check about the accessibility and maintenance of fire-fighting equipment in the building, besides, the knowledge of the residents on how to operate the fire extinguishers and use the fire escape routes.

In the State, around 2,000 multi-storeyed buildings, 7,200 educational institutions and about 1,330 industries were identified as violating the fire safety norms.

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