UPSC Articles
Public Buildings and Fire Safety
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Disaster management
In news
- Over the past year, there have been deadly fires in hospital buildings, including those treating COVID-19 patients.
Key takeaways
- The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says 330 people died in commercial building fires in 2019.
- Fatalities for residential or dwelling buildings: 6,329.
- Electrical faults are cited as the leading cause of fires
- State governments are widely criticised for being lax with building safety laws and for failing to equip public buildings with modern technology.
- Hospital ICUs (intensive care units) are a great fire risk because they are oxygen-suffused, and need to meet high standards.
- Part 4 of the National Building Code of India deals with Fire and Life Safety.
- The document provides specifications and guidelines for design and materials that reduce the threat of destructive fires.
- Hospitals come under the institutional category in the code.
