HYDERABAD: In light of several fire mishaps taking place across the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the Directorate of Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have identified 17 establishments prone to massive fire mishaps. The EVDM/GHMC has slapped notices asking the management of establishments concerned to remove inflammable items from their premises.
After serving notices, 13 establishments — such as Paradise Food Court, the Interior Park Furniture Mall, Taj Tristar, Elevatex, among others — shifted inflammable material out of the premises and set up fire safety measures. The remaining four establishments — Hotel Swagath Residency in KPHB, Royaloak in Banjara Hills, Keshav Reddy Sweets in Madhapur and Bantia Furniture in Attapur — have not responded to the notices, EVDM director N Prakash Reddy said.
Officials slapped notices after conducting joint inspections of shops, commercial establishments, godowns and finding various inflammable scrap materials and gas cylinders stored at the sites. They also observed that the establishments lacked basic fire safety measures.
Further, the EVDM has issued final notices to the four establishments by giving a 15 days to arrange fire safety measures. If the said establishments don’t shift the material and take up fire safety measures, the EVDM director is expected to give orders to seal the premises.
GHMC chief holds review meet
Meanwhile, GHMC commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar held a review meeting with the fire safety and town planning officials to analyse the causes of frequent fire accidents. They also discussed about the appropriate precautions to prevent fire accidents and the measures to be taken to comply with the regulations of commercial buildings.
To create awareness among people on fire safety aspects, officials said programmes will be organised in educational institutions and organisations apart from using posters and radio jingles. Pamphlets with dos and don’ts during a fire will also be distributed, officials added.