CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is set to prepare a comprehensive fire safety management plan for T Nagar area and has sought consultants to help prepare the detailed project report.
The move to have fire safety management plan comes in the wake of the fire in Chennai Silks in T Nagar. Sources said the area is characterised by inaccessibility due to narrow roads, violation in setbacks, FSI and encroachments which affect the fire management and emergency response.
Sources said that a tender has been floated and the period envisaged for preparing the DPR is four months from the award of the study.
It is learnt that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority wants a community-oriented fire safety plan involving building owner and occupants and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the T Nagar clusters to work in partnership with the stake-holding government departments to provide active and passive measures as per the norms for an effective response mechanism.
The consultant will be developing a framework and guidelines for an intelligent fire detection and response system through inter-departmental coordination and public partnership that has an in-built mandatory strategy for design and installation of heat and smoke detectors with centralized 24x7 control that is linked to fire and rescue services department control room.
Similarly, the CMDA is looking at a fire safety module which can be replicated with slight modifications in any central business district (CBD) along with phased implementation process.
The consultant will have to review fire incidents in each cluster in the last 15 years with reference to fire location, ignition source, fire spread area, extent of damage to property and people.
It will also have to look at the fire suppression response (number and location of responding fire brigades, times needed for arrival, suppression, clean up) to identify business clusters in T Nagar that are vulnerable.
Objectives of DPR
Draw up fire hazard and vulnerability analysis map of prioritised Central Business District
Community-oriented fire safety plan involving building owners, occupants and local NGOs
Development of framework and guidelines for an intelligent fire detection and response system