Public Buildings and Fire Safety

  • IASbaba
  • May 3, 2021
  • 0
UPSC Articles
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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.

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