HYDERABAD: Open party places and those pubs which have recently mushroomed to host new year parties in the city are ‘vulnerable’ to fire accidents, say Telangana State Disaster Response and Fire Safety department.
In the aftermath of a major fire accident that claimed 14 lives in Mumbai, after a fire broke out on an open roof-top pub, surprise checks by the department recorded in the year saw 78 buildings not complying with fire safety norms.
Of the 675 surprise checks conducted in the Telangana between January and December 78 building owners were penalised.
“New premises which come up for the celebrations with permission from only police and not from fire department are most vulnerable to fire accidents,” said M Srinivas Reddy, Hyderabad District Fire Officer. “Illegal construction of extra floors, conversion of cellars into office spaces and switching off fire detection and sprinklers are the common violations,” observed V Papaiah, Regional Fire Officer.
“It is the duty of the building owners, who occupy buildings to inform us about the conversion of occupancy and apply for a No Objection Certificate. They need to get safety checks done,” said Papaiah. Many night pubs and bars gearing up for the new year celebrations do not follow fire safety norms.
At Reliance classic building in Banjara Hills, which has a bar and restaurant situated on the fifth floor has no fire extinguisher either in its kitchen or on its premises.“We do not have extinguishers on our premises but we share the common fire hose reel. It is shared by the entire building,” said management of Hyderabad Blues, a bar situated in the building.