While the year 2017 ended with a major fire at Kamala Mills that killed 14 people, 2018 hasn’t been any better. Fire incidents have already claimed 14 lives in the city. The latest fire at the Crystal Tower building in Parel snuffed out the lives of four people
Only in this year, in four major fire incidents, 14 city dwellers have lost their lives. These include the fire at Goregaon in which five people were killed in May, four died in a fire at Marol in January, and again in the same month, one died at a Kanjurmarg fire. Also, only last week, a fire at Parel killed four.
The latest fire at Parel was in a building named Cyrstal Plaza, which didn’t even have an occupation certificate. The residents blamed the developer; the firefighting mechanism was not properly maintained either. Such shoddy management once again raises the question that who should be held responsible for maintenance of fire safety equipment within the building. The builder, until the building is handed over to the society? The society? Or, is it the responsibility of the developer to have a fire-fighting mechanism in place that should be taken care by the society later? Also with every passing day the number of high rises in the city is increasing.
While the year 2017 ended with a major fire incident at Kamala Mills, that killed 12 people, the year 2018, hasn’t been too kind in terms of fire incidents in city. Until now, there has been close to 12 major fire incidents that have been reported. These include, the fire at Sessions court, fire at a cloth mill in Goregaon, a chemical factory fire, the fire at BeauMonde tower in Prabhadevi, another fire at Fort’s Kothari Mansion, and the recent major fire incident was at RCF in Mahul.
In case of industrial areas, fire incidents can be easily blamed on the management, but when it occurs in buildings which are occupied by residents, who shall one blame?
The developers say that they provide best of the fire-fighting equipment to the residents but they aren’t maintained. The society on the other hand, blames members who do not wish to shell out the extra money required for maintenance and upkeep or installation of the fire equipment.
IS REGULATION THE NEED OF THE HOUR?
Societies, developers, and housing experts speak their minds on the important issue
Fire safety units installed at Omkar 1973 building in Worli
Is having a regulation to keep a check on Housing societies, whether they are following the procedures a need of the hour? This is what Housing experts suggest and even certain societies say that this should be done
The responsibility of maintaining the building and all its ancillaries after the builder hands it over, lies in hands of the Housing society. However, in most cases developers say that societies do not follow the procedures
Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, who is a Housing expert, suggests that a regulation is needed where societies are forced to maintain the equipment and its upkeep. “A periodical check should be conducted by the officials and authorities, so that the societies carry out maintenance work. People do not want to spend extra money that fire safety requires. But, it is important and should be followed,” he said
Jilesh Balal, secretary of Janki Kutir, says that it will be better if there are regulations in place which will make it mandatory for societies to follow the law
Another expert said that it could include a minimal fine that can act as a deterrent and will force societies not following fire safety norms to adhere to the rules
Fire management system at Omkar 1973 building in Worli helps quick evacuation
Housing societies believe that if there are proper regulations, the fear might force residents to adhere to fire safety norms
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 "Crystal Tower fire")
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