Every society should get fire audits done: Vinod Tawde

After a fire occurred in a Chembur building on Thursday, the city's suburban district guardian minister and higher and technical education minister Vinod Tawde on Saturday said that fire audit of each and every building has to be conducted regularly.

Tawde visited the families of the victims of Chembur's recent fire incident. He appreciated those who rushed to save lives trapped inside the Sargam building, where the fire had occurred. Tawde said that the concept of fire audit is really effective. "People need to participate and make fire audit happen in their buildings. It must be a regular affair. An incident like the fire at Sargam building can only be averted through regular checks. Fire audit is important for the safety and security of residents. It helps to find out the gaps and lapses in a building's functioning. An audit helps to fill such gaps in due time," Tawde said.

A senior official from the city's fire brigade said, "We have very good laws and norms but, no one wants to follow them. We always ask people to conduct fire audits. However, they do not want to follow. As per our records, 90 per cent of the housing societies do not get fire audits done. In addition to that, we do not have enough manpower to visit each and every housing society to check their fire equipment. Therefore, we appeal to people to get fire audits done for their own safety," the officer said.

Tawde said that the state government has already ordered an inquiry into the Chembur fire incident. 

"We do not want to go into blaming. The inquiry will find out who is responsible for the mishap. The important point is that during this emergency, many rushed to save lives trapped inside the building. That kind of behaviour sets an ideal," Tawde said.