Air traffic control tower of Bhubaneswar airport lacks fire safety certificate

Sources said BPIA officials had applied for ATC’s fire safety certificate, but the application was rejected during inspection by Odisha Fire and Emergency Service officers.
The ATC tower at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA)
The ATC tower at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA)Photo| Shamim Qureshy
Updated on
2 min read

BHUBANESWAR : The new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) is functioning without fire safety certificate.

The tower consisting of 11 floors also reportedly does not have the mandatory safety measures including required number of escape routes to facilitate employees’ safe exit in case of a fire mishap.

As per the National Building Code of India and Odisha Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Rule, a fire safety certificate is issued to a building having more than four floors at its initial stage of plan approval only if there are independent staircases on both sides. The rules further state that escape routes should be well-ventilated, provided with safety lighting and should be free from obstructions. However, there is only one staircase in the ATC tower of BPIA.

Sources said BPIA officials had applied for ATC’s fire safety certificate, but the application was rejected during inspection by Odisha Fire and Emergency Service officers. To reapply for the certificate, the authorities will have to comply with the escape route provision.

The new ATC was inaugurated by Airports Authority of India (AAI) on October 26 last year. However, members of the Air Traffic Controllers’ (ATC) Guild did not shift to the new tower until February this year due to various shortcomings like lack of adequate escape routes, restrooms for male and female staff and compressors of air-conditioner blocking the corridor, among others.

“ATC officials had raised several issues including inadequate escape routes due to which the fire department did not issue the no objection certificate. Besides, AC compressors were blocking the corridor leading to the balcony where laser lights are flashed at aircrafts to facilitate their landing process in case their radio frequency is disrupted,” said a BPIA official. Most of the issues, except construction of more escape routes, were met and the officials started working in the new ATC from February 20 this year. But there is no provision of any emergency exit yet, he said.

However, BPIA director Prasanna Pradhan said there are adequate fire safety arrangements in the new ATC tower including two lifts and a staircase. “As the fire department did not issue the fire safety certificate, we took up the matter with the state government in May.”

In an advisory issued in July this year, the AAI had said that operational/terminal buildings and control tower of an airport are considered vital installations that play an important role in safe and efficient civil aviation organisation.

Fire in operational buildings having air traffic services or navigational equipment can result in contingency situation not only in airports but also for planes in the air, read the advisory.

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