No mechanism for inspection of fire safety in buildings, says Acharya

Home Minister V S Acharya admitted on Tuesday that the State had no 'mechanism' in place to inspect high rises and commercial buildings regularly to prevent mishaps such as the fire accident at Carlton Towers.



He said that a mechanism will have to be introduced to keep regular tabs on building violations.

Addressing the media after a ceremony to honour fire fighters and home guards, Acharya admitted “There is no mechanism in the state to inspect buildings regularly. We need a multi-pronged approach to this issue with several departments like urban development, police and fire services coming together to ensure that building by-laws are not violated.”
He said that the government will have to take several statutory decisions regarding safety in buildings and work on the principle that prevention of accidents is better.

“Although the fire and emergency services did a commendable job during the incidents at Carlton Towers, Gokaldas exports and even the building collapse in Bellary, we need to work towards preventing these accidents,” he said.

Medal for 48 fire fighters

Earlier, the Home Minister awarded the Chief Minister’s medal to 48 fire fighters and 30 Home guards. Acharya said that the two forces played a critical role in times of natural calamities in rescue and rehabilitation work. “These forces have played a vital role during the floods in North Karnataka and also in the drought hit districts. They also performed a stellar role in creating awareness among the public” he said.

Acharya added that the Government was working towards having a fire station in all Taluks in the state and also more stations in Bangalore city. Currently, out of the 176 Taluks in the state only 136 have fire stations. “We have already given permission to establish more fire stations in the state. By the end of 2010 we will have 21 more fire stations in the state,” he said.

He inaugurated an awareness initiative of the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services department and unveiled two mascots ‘Uncle Dash’ and ‘Baby Pom’. Acharya also flagged off three new hi-tech fire engines with state of the art fire fighting equipment.