The Kamala Mill and Saki Naka fire incidents seem to have shaken the civic authorities awake. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to split the fire department into a technical cell to take care of firefighting and prevention, while a new fire safety and compliance cell will be established with powers to take action for non-compliance.
Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta told DNA, "The fire safety and compliance cell will be created at all 34 fire stations across Greater Mumbai and they will report to concerned ward officers. While designated officers at the ward level are assigned to find out structural legalities, they lack powers in regard to compliance. Therefore, in the restructured fire department, the proposed fire safety and compliance cell will enjoy powers to prosecute the defaulters.''
According to Mehta, the fire safety and compliance officer will have powers to visit and inspect buildings, hotels, restaurants and rooftop eateries and initiate action for violations of stipulated fire safety norms. Besides, the said officer will have powers to properly check if gas cylinders are placed in the given space and if they are cooking on an open flame, and also if they have induction cooktops as required under fire safety norms.
"The fire safety and compliance officer will have powers to issue no objection certificates and rigorously follow up legal action for non compliance,'' Mehta said.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer KV Hivrale explained the scope of work of the fire safety and compliance cell. ''The concerned officer deputed in the cell will have expertise in fire prevention and will also ensure that legal action is taken for gross violations. In the present structure, the violation of civic norms are dealt with by the ward officer but remains without follow-up action,'' he said. He added that every ward will have a fire officer.
Hivrale added that the cell will start functioning with the deployment of personnel from the fire department, and later it will be strengthened as per requirement. He added that the cell will start in a month.
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