Committee submits 15 measures to prevent mishaps like Goregaon SRA building fire

Mumbai: Following the SRA building fire in Goregaon, which killed eight people and injured 61 others, a committee set up by Iqbal Chahal, BMC commissioner and administrator, and headed by Sudhakar Shinde, additional municipal commissioner, has submitted a report providing 15 measures to prevent fire in the future.

Of the 15 recommendations, some important ones include the installation of a spiral ladder made of wrought iron and to be installed in existing and upcoming SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) buildings that can work as a fire escape.

The report also said all existing buildings will have to conduct a fire audit and comply with the installation of necessary firefighting equipment.

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) stated the report.

The committee said that the fire audit for the existing 227 SRA buildings is a must and a yearly audit in June is also compulsory.

The panel also announced that for all upcoming SRA redevelopment projects, a joint visit with SRA, fire officials, and the Public Works Department (PWD) is a must, following which each department must submit their recommendations, basis which a call on Occupancy Certificate (OC) should be taken. The defect liability period of the SRA buildings will have to be increased from three to 10 years.

The report said that since the SRA buildings are densely populated with multiple flats on each floor and no proper passage and windows, going forward, the new SRA building must have enough passage on each floor and more than one staircase with each staircase wider than 2 meters.

Another measure by the committee said that all SRA buildings with lifts have to switch to steel-enclosed doors instead of grill doors, which leads to smoke spreading across the floors leading to more injuries, observed the committee.

With regards to parking, the committee made two points stating that parking inside the building should be properly allotted to the tenants and no other items should be stored in the parking lot area, especially inflammable materials.

For parking outside the building, the committee said that the police have been instructed to look after the parking issue on narrow roads and take appropriate measures.

The report said a committee has to be set up by SRA to ensure that no extra materials are stored in various spaces of the building, especially on passages, staircases, and parking lots, and the committee will have to monitor its implementation routinely.

All buildings with conditional NOCs given by the fire brigade will be checked by the authorities and compliance with those conditions will have to be reported to the chief fire officer’s office to get full NOC.

Currently, form B (fire compliance certificate) from the brigade is not issued to buildings that have not received an OC but have residents living there will have to obtain form B certificate, with full fire compliance. The fire brigade will have to make the necessary rules for it.