Fire safety

In News: In Maharashtra, atleast 2 women workers were killed and 19 workers injured in a massive fire that broke out at Jindal Group’s polythene manufacturing unit in Mundegaon village of Nashik this morning.

• Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Rules, 2009, were adopted under the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006.
• These legislation required building owners and inhabitants to undertake half-yearly fire safety audits and submit the results to the fire service.
• However, leaving the fire safety audit to “Licensed Agencies” has produced some confusion, because the same agency is responsible for I installing firefighting systems

About fire safety in India:

• As per National Crime Records Bureau, India’s dismal fire safety record was reflected in the deaths of 17,700 persons in fires in both public and private buildings across the country in 2015.

• According to Article 243W of the Constitution, municipalities in India are responsible for completing the activities stated in the 12th schedule.
• Currently, the concerned states, Union Territories (UTs), and Urban Local Bodies offer fire prevention and firefighting services (ULBs).
• Municipal corporations manage fire services in several states, such as Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. It is controlled by the Home Ministry’s department in the remaining states.

• Part 4 of the National Building Code of India deals with Fire and Life Safety.

National Building Code of India:

• Created by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
• The NBC published its debut issue in 1970.
• NBC’s primary purpose is to outline practises that provide a practical and reasonable degree of fire safety.
• The Code mandates that building occupants and users comply with the basic minimum of fire safety regulations.
• To guarantee that fire protection equipment/installations satisfy the set quality criteria, it is preferable to use those that have been officially certified under the BIS Certification Marks Scheme.
• Building constraints in each fire zone are mentioned, as well as building classification based on occupancy, fire zone demarcation, height limitations, kinds of structure construction based on fire resistance of structural and non-structural components, and other restrictions and regulations essential to reduce the risk of death from fire, smoke, gases, or panic before the building is constructed.
• The Code recognises that life safety is about more than only escape and includes requirements concerning egress, such as exit access, exit, and exit discharge, among other things.
• It also provides guidelines for deploying portable and fixed firefighting equipment to protect various occupancies from fire.

Source: News on air