ISLAMABAD:
Nearly two years after the Capital Development Authority (CDA) came up with its fire prevention and safety rules, the level of compliance in the city still remains low.
When the regulations were issued in January 2011, existing buildings were required to implement all required fire safety measures and install specified fire equipment within six months.
That has not happened.
CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said the Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate started a survey of all buildings in the city to check for compliance earlier this year. The survey covered around 60% of all commercial buildings and only 15 to 20% of industrial buildings. The results, however, are dismal so far.
“Countless notices [of non-compliance] have been issued to building owners who have not met the requirements,” said Sajid, without providing specific figures.
He could not confirm the extent of residential areas already covered by the survey. But when CDA’s own offices seems to lack the required number of fire extinguishers and fire exits, there is little to expect from other building owners.
Fines are issued in case a building owner does not enter into compliance after three notices, said Sajid. Violators can be fined up to Rs500,000, according to the regulations, but the spokesperson could not confirm if anyone had been fined for non-compliance since the rules came into effect.
Fire safety preparedness and fire fighting resources have become issues of national concern. Last month, a fire at a garment factory killed over 250 people in Karachi.
The CDA fire and rescue department has four specialised Bronto snorkels and 35 fire engines at its disposal. The snorkels, which were imported from Finland in 2006, are hydraulic platforms with aerial ladders. Two of the ladders can go as high as 68 metres, while the other two can reach up to 29 metres.
These ladders can reach the tops of all high rise buildings in Islamabad except the Telecom Tower and the ISE and Centaurus buildings.
However, an official at the CDA fire and rescue department said two of the snorkels are currently scheduled for routine maintenance while one has a “minor fault”.
The maintenance of the expensive equipment is contracted to a Finnish company and the workers might arrive from Finland to fix the equipment in a few weeks, said the official.
However, Abdul Ghafoor, the director of CDA’s Emergency and Disaster Management Directorate, said the fire brigade can use the under-maintenance equipment if the need arises. “We are prepared to face any day-to-day emergencies,” he said.
Last month, the CDA fire brigade showed encouraging signs when it responded promptly to put out a fire that broke out at the back of a telecom company’s office in Blue Area.
Plans to build a training academy for fire fighters in H-11 are also complete, according to the fire and rescue department official, but the project depends upon allocation of funds from the cash-strapped CDA.
In Pindi, efforts to ensure fire safety ‘soon’
Meanwhile, new efforts to ensure fire safety are about to be launched in Rawalpindi.
Tayyamam Raza, Rawalpindi’s district officer for civil defence, said his office is allowed to inspect commercial and industrial buildings for fire precautions according to the 1951 Civil Defence Special Power Rules. However, the rules were discontinued in 2005 and only resumed again this year. Once the powers are delegated from the deputy commissioner’s office to the city’s civil defence, they will start inspections again, he explained.
“When it comes to fire safety, prevention should be prioritised over fire fighting,” said Raza.
He said factories sprouting up in streets and alleys, which escape the notice of building code authorities, pose the biggest danger. “The major fire safety concerns arise due to unregistered and illegal factories and industries set up in residential areas.”
A press release issued by the National Trade Union Federation alleged that the garment factory in Karachi was also unregistered and established illegally.
Fire safety code in the works
Ahmed Kamal, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) spokesperson, said the authority is working on developing standard operating procedures for fire safety preparedness and prevention. The procedures will be supplied to provincial and federal disaster management organisations.
“The provinces are also empowered to create their own policies regarding natural and manmade disasters and enforce them at the district level as well,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.
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