Berhampur: Fire mishaps are on the rise in the Silk City as 421 incidents of fire were reported in the city over last three years, a report said Thursday. Properties worth `1.69 crore were destroyed. The mishaps have been a major threat with the rise in construction of high-rise buildings, hotels and commercial establishments in the town in the last decade.
These high rise buildings are prone to fire mishaps as they do not have provisions on fire safety in case of a fire mishap. An analysis of the incidents over last few years will reveal about the intensity of threats posed by inferno to the lives and properties of the residents in the Silk City.
Over 421 fire incidents occurred between 2015 and 2017 that destroyed properties worth over `1.69 crore during the period. Moreover, the recent fire at Getta slum and at a saree godown in Hanuman Bazaar are indicative of the rising threat posed by fire to the lives and properties of the denizens.
Sources said many high rise buildings are constructed in the town by people without paying any attention to installing fire safety measures in the buildings. The state fire department has divided the buildings into nine categories on the basis of threats posed by fire mishaps.
These buildings are residential, educational, government and private offices, commercial buildings, godowns, industries, warehouses and buildings storing inflammables, apartments, hotels, lodgings, restaurants, schools, colleges, community centres like Kalyan Mandaps, theatres, cinemas, auditoriums, shops, market places, fire cracker godowns and manufacturing centres.
An advisory from the fire department said that persons constructing buildings should take steps to install fire safety measures like fire extinguishers, sprinklers and alarms in buildings and leave open space up to six metres around it. However, many of these buildings do not have such facilities while the roads connecting to these houses are narrow.
The high rise buildings like hotels need to have a 5000 litre overhead tank each but several of them lack any such facilities. As a result, the fire tenders fail to reach the buildings in the event of a fire.
Such a situation was recently witnessed when a saree godown caught fire at Hanuman Bazaar. The godown running from a residential building had a narrow approach road that led to rapid spread of fire.
Whew contacted, fire officer Sanatan Mohapatra said the owner of the high rise buildings and commercial establishments have been directed to install fire safety measures but they don’t obey the order.
PNN
