Fire safety: Corp on the path of self-correction

Thiruvananthapuram: The city corporation which recently issued notices to various buildings to implement fire safety measures has embarked on a ‘self-correction mission’ as it gets set to implement a scientific fire safety system in the corporation main office and some of the assets under its administration.
The corporation has issued notification for engaging fire safety consultants to revamp the fire safety system in main office which has remained defunct for a long time. The main office building complex measuring over 12,000 sq.ft and employing hundreds of staff in around 10 departments also handles a voluminous inflow of people on a daily basis who come to corporation for various purposes.
Palayam Rajan, chairman, town planning committee said that the fire safety plan is being implemented in a comprehensive manner in city corporation for the first time. “We had recently constituted a working group for disaster management as per the guidelines of state government. The fire safety upgradation in our main office and properties arose from the belief that we have to correct ourselves and ensure people’s safety before asking others to do so,” said Rajan.
He said that the project is being implemented as part of ongoing modernization in main office. For the past few months, all the departmental offices and chambers have been undergoing a facelift in the main office as part of ongoing modernization plan. “We have completed replacing all the old wires which posed dangers of short circuit and fire hazard. With the help of a qualified consultant we will be upgrading the entire system,” said Rajan.
The corporation main office building was inaugurated by late Indira Gandhi in 1966. Although fire extinguishers were installed at some points in the main office, the building had lacked a proper fire safety plan, exit route, fire tank and other required safety measures.
Abdul Rasheed, district fire safety officer said that it was a welcome move on the part of city corporation to have its fire safety system upgraded. “The crucial aspect about public buildings is presence of large number of people all through the day. Lack of a proper fire safety system puts such people at a huge risk and besides hundreds of staff also work there and they are equally vulnerable,” said Rasheed.
The fire safety department, during its recent audit, has come across severe lack of fire safety meausres in many places. In many government offices, the buckets meant to store sand to extinguish fire have become trash bins. The corporation officials said that they have also enlisted shopping complexes under corporation and zonal offices to implement the system. “Depending upon the need, the system will be emulated in our properties and zonal offices,” an official said.