Stomach this — over the last two years, the Mumbai Fire Brigade has sent 4,647 notices, out of which only 10 owners have been prosecuted and not a single conviction has been achieved so far.
Now sample this — there are only 180 officers in the Fire Brigade for the twice-a-year audit of over 20,000 high rises, 2,000 hotels, 3,916 schools, 531 colleges, and 400 hospitals.
These numbers tell a shocking story of why Mumbai keeps seeing fires killing people every now-and-then. That's why nothing teaches a lesson — be it the fire at Mantralaya, the seat of power or at Girgaum Chowpatty Make In India event where the world saw how poor our fire safety is.
So after every fire, there is an outcry and the Chief Minister or the civic commissioner of the day promises swift action and justice for the dead. Nothing changes on the ground. Why, the number of officers who must certify an establishment or a building fire safe, has not changed in 25 years from a mere 180? Just 180 officers must inspect over two lakh buildings, establishments in city every six months and see if they are safe enough.
According to a senior fire officer, staffers are clearly overworked. "Mumbai fire officers are fire-fighting as well carrying out administrative work. This is impacting their efficiency. We urgently need to revise and modernise this existing structure," he said.
As per the fire officer, for inspections of a commercial building, a fire officer has to spend at least two-three days to check the fire pumps, hydrants, smoke detectors and sprinklers. "Moreover, maintenance and pressure level of the pumps has to be checked as well at the ground level. We cannot afford to do our job superficially. We need more officers," ex fire officer P Kalguppikar said.
This leads to abysmal rates at which the fire department takes action against the errant parties. Since January 2015, Mumbai Fire Brigade has sent 4,647 notices to various people after inspecting premises as per the provisions of Maharashtra Fire Prevention & Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, but only 10 have been prosecuted so far. Others were given 120 days to take remedial measures which they did and hence were let off. But even those 10 who were prosecuted were not convicted. It is pertinent to note that not one of them was probably as guilty as a 1 Above, or a Mojo Bistro who flouted every single norm of fire safety.
Let alone conviction, the Fire department didn't even disconnect water or electricity supply to these buildings.
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