The deadly fire in Unnat Nagar, Goregaon’s SRA building has been an eye-opener to the hazards that exist in such structures, with the sheer number of such projects across Mumbai city and its suburban areas coupled with the conditions there providing indications of a surefire disaster in the makingwhile highlighting the need for urgently addressing issues
Lack of fire safety in mostslum rehab buildings in Mumbai has not been underscored enough to merit concern. In such a situation what becomes paramount is the need toaddress issues such as non-functional firefighting systems, poor ventilation, and non-existent escape routes. It is a disconcerting fact that many SRA buildings lack basic ventilation which can trap residents during emergencies.
Sometime in 2008, the BMC’s Disaster Management Department had specifically discussed Dharavi slums as a case study to understand the kind of havoc if a fire were to break out as forget fighting or mitigating, fire-fighting units would not be able to even enter the area billed as Asia’s biggest slum pocket.
Ensuring compliance
Compliance by housing societies is a major issue as deficiencies are periodically pointed out in fire audits. What is called for is the establishment of a dedicated authority within the BMC to conduct audits and ensure compliance with fire safety.
The SRA was established in 1997 with the aim of providing 10 lakh homes to slum dwellers in 10 years. However, according to a 2020 survey just over two lakh homes have been built. What is of primary concern is these buildings are lying in neglect and have become tinderboxes.
Safety aspect
Ensuring life safety is the most essential aspect of all building codes. According to section 3 of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, the developer, owner, occupier or whatever name called, shall comply with all the fire and safety measures, adhering to the National Building Code of India, 2005, and as amended from time to time, failing which, it shall be treated as a violation of the said Act. It means that the onus of maintaining and documenting the fire safety installations in a building is the responsibility of the building owner or occupier.
Protecting lives
The Code addresses several issues that are thought to be crucial to the protection of life since it is aware that it involves more than just ways of egress. Therefore, the Code includes provisions relating to means of egress, including exit access, exit, and exit discharge. It also includes requirements for fixed and mobile firefighting systems that are used to protect various types of occupancies from fire.
Mandatory requirement
It is possible to target Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment (HIRA) to identify potential risks. A thorough fire safety audit can address the inherent fire risks connected to regular operations in an occupation and suggest actions to lessen the potential fire risks.Making Fire Safety Audits mandatory and giving the audit job to Third Party Agencies with the necessary experience are the best ways to lower the number of fire occurrences. It is reasonable to do a fire safety audit every tenancy once a year. Above all, all employees inside an occupation must actively cooperate for fire prevention and fire defence to be successful.
Primary recommendations
The eight-member committee headed by BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Mr Sudhakar Shinde has recommended fifteen steps to stop fire incidents from happening again in the future. It has observed that mesh doors should not be present in SRA buildings while evacuating people as there are many apartments on every floor. It has advised that steel doors in the elevator be kept closed at all times during fire events due to the potential for smoke and flames to spread up the shaft. It has also recommended that developer should provide multiple staircases and social areas on each floor of the structure. These staircases ought to be wider than two meters. The building’s parking spaces for two- and four-wheel drive cars have also been noted.
Bottom line
The approach should be towards a relook at the way SRA projects are executed. It is inhuman to approve buildings with the kind of design and the size of rooms that the Goregaon building has.
The corpus fund available with the cooperative housing societies should be used. In case the corpus funds are not available, SRA should provide the necessary funds for audit and installation of the firefighting equipment, a list of which should be submitted to Chief Fire Officer (CFO). The bottom line should be Prevention is always better than cure. The Goregaon fire should be an eye-opener.
A Column By
Raju Korti – Editor
The Resource 24X7
A Journalist With 4 Decades of Experience With Leading Media Houses.
