BENGALURU: Cases of accidental falls of elevators and people getting stuck in them are increasing in the country. A survey revealed that 42 per cent of lift users have had one or more family members getting stuck inside an elevator, at least once in the past three years.
The India Lift Survey included three different questions on the maintenance, standardisation of lifts and if they ever got stuck in one. It received over 42,000 responses from citizens located in 329 districts in India.
“How are the lifts in your residential building (society or house) maintained,” the survey questioned. Of the total 6,135 responses from Bengaluru, 2,003 responded to the maintenance issue. 81 per cent of them said lifts were maintained by a manufacturer, third-party contractor or the society themselves. In 19 per cent cases people said nobody maintained them.
Sampat Althur, founder of Pop-up housing Innovation, Bengaluru explained that such instances are rarely seen in Karnataka over the last few years. The older lifts might have issues but the newer ones are well-updated with sensor technology and alert systems minimising the occurrence of such incidents. The associations and even private properties seem to have their AMCs in place and regular checks are also done.
In all, 73 per cent of 2,101 respondents said the government must bring mandatory standards for lift maintenance. This will ensure compliance from all parties be it the lift manufacturer, third-party contractor, even the society themselves to meet the basic maintenance standard.
Having them mandatorily upload the lift condition and their approval in a centralised database with every lift having a unique identification number will also help make things more transparent and compliant, stated the report. The Bombay Lift Act was passed in 1939 and is currently implemented in ten states, including Karnataka.