With a delay of about two years, the 'special cell' of the Mumbai Fire Brigade for fire inspection might finally come into force by year end. A proposal on this was cleared by deputy chief fire officer Sunil Nesarikar, on Saturday. The proposal has now been sent to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte's approval, following which the recruitment of officers will begin.
The decision to start the cell was taken in 2012, after it came to light that most buildings don't comply with basic fire safety norms, which will comprise 99 fire officers, including experienced fire officials. The new recruit will undergo rigorous training of six months before they start fire inspections and subsequent enforcement of fire safety rules under the Maharashtra Fire Safety and Prevention Act.
"Each officer will be provided with a tablet, to take images and details of the building they are inspecting in a fixed format, consisting of 10 to 20 parameters, and synchronise them directly with the main fire brigade office. The information will be accessible to senior fire officers from their office," said Nesarikar.
So far, fire inspections are usually carried out by 83 fire officers, since there are not enough registered agencies in the city for the task. "Carrying out fire inspections of more than 3.8 lakh buildings is not feasible, so we give preference to places with a higher footfall, such as malls, theatres, hospitals, schools, industrial estates and commercial buildings among others for inspections," said a senior fire officer.
Since September 8, 2013 to March 31, 2014, the fire brigade has carried out 3,469 inspections and has issued notices to 1,357 structures. However, there were only four prosecutions, as most societies complied to the suggestions of the fire officers within the given time period, senior officials from the department said.
Nesarikar informed that the Mumbai fire brigade is simultaneously working on setting up a communication cell, which was also proposed last year, to create awareness amongst residents about fire safety and to maintain information regarding location, area and names of housing societies.
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