BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Fire and Emergency Service conducted fire safety audit of over 3,700 establishments and institutions across the state in the last 25 days as part of its ‘Surakshit Odisha, Vikshit Odisha’ campaign.
According to the department, the highest number of audits (1,324) were conducted under its northern (Sambalpur), 1,260 under southern (Berhampur) and 1,174 under central division (Cuttack). While audits of three establishments were carried out by special teams under the leadership of chief fire officer Debendra Kumar Swain.
During the exercise, checks were carried out to find whether the establishments have a valid fire safety certificate, required fire safety equipment is available and functional or not and to ascertain if emergency exit routes and doors are free from obstruction. Odisha Fire Service officers also provided training to the staff of the establishments on safe evacuation during a fire accident, required primary fire safety measures and the proper usage of fire extinguishers.
Addressing the mediapersons, DG Fire Services Sudhanshu Sarangi said, “Wherever violations of fire safety rules, lack of adequate fire safety equipment or other deficiencies were observed during the inspections, the establishments concerned were issued compliance notices to rectify the gaps within a stipulated time period.”