Better fire safety measures ensured at Numaish 2020
HYDERABAD: The 80th edition of the All India Industrial Exhibition (AIIE) or Numaish as it is popularly known which will start from January 1,2020, will have less number and smaller stalls and more entry/exit gates, to improve fire safety preparedness. These contingency measures are being taken in view of the major fire accident that occurred during the exhibition earlier this year.
President of AIIE and Health Minister Eatala Rajender said, “As per the suggestions of the fire department, the society will make changes in scheduling the number of stalls so fire hydrants can reach the accident spot on time. The safety plan will be functional before the exhibition begins,” Rajender said, addressing media at Nampally Exhibition Ground on Friday.
A short circuit was the reason for the fire this year and as a result the Exhibition Society is investing `82.65 lakh in converting overground power cables to underground.
Exhibition Society secretary, B Prabha Shankar said, “The Exhibition Society has started converting overhead electric lines to underground cables to reduce the risk of short circuit. Running at a length of 880 meters, the underground system will replace 80 per cent of overhead power lines,’’ he said. The underground line has 22 distribution boxes, with 160 amps MCB’s, which ensures the distribution of equal load.
The society is also working on the construction of two water sumps of 1.5 litre capacity each to control fire which will be equipped with a power pump, a diesel engine pump and a jockey pump, at a cost of `2.1 crore.
The society is also making it mandatory for each stall to have insurance for 46 days and to install a fire extinguisher. It has requested for deployment of two fire engineers and a fire motorbike as well.