Software to put the heat on buildings that flout fire norms
In order to improve fire safety measures, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) is planning to launch a piece of software meant to inspect buildings, which would help it track defaulters in Mumbai.
In order to improve fire safety measures, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) is planning to launch a piece of software meant to inspect buildings, which would help it track defaulters in Mumbai. The software would have a fire protection record of all the buildings and properties in the city.
According to fire officials, the MFB, which has 132 nominated fire officials to carry out building inspection, is facing a shortage of manpower due to the growing number of high-rises in the city. The software would keep a track of all these buildings, helping the fire brigade locate those where fire norms are being violated. The civic body had appointed a private consultant, Price Waterhouse Coopers, to design it.
Chief fire officer Prabhat Rahangdale said, “The requirement and documentation of the building inspection software is already complete. The tenders will be invited soon and the software will be ready within a couple of months.”
He added that the software data would help the fire brigade identify the fire safety defaulters and prosecute them. “The main feature of the software is that it will automatically show who are complying with fire safety norms, and identify defaulters. It will also generate a message and send a mail to the buildings that are found to be in violation of fire safety norms. If these societies fail to comply with the norms, we will prosecute them.”
As per the fire safety Act, buildings are supposed to conduct a fire audit twice a year — in January and July — and submit the fitness certificates concerned to the fire brigade. If a building fails to submit the certificate, the MFB sends a compliance notice to the defaulters and if the same is not done within 120 days, which is the maximum stipulated time, the defaulters are prosecuted.
A recent RTI query had revealed that the MFB has sent notices to 4,592 housing societies under section 6 of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2009, for flouting fire norms in the last six and a half years. But only 14 have been prosecuted so far.