HYDERABAD: More than a year after four workers were killed at an illegal cooler manufacturing unit in Rajendra Nagar after a massive fire broke out on the premises, the several other small and medium scale units operating in the city are still deprived of fire safety equipment. Caught between two columns of houses in a narrow lane, a third-party godown operating in Jiyaguda has its establishment vulnerable to electric short-circuit.
“The fire officials come here every once in a month and demonstrate on how to use the fire extinguishers. But, we do not need them as ours is a small facility,” said Vinay Singh, in-charge of the facility.
The godown even has insulated the electric wire moving through iron pillars that held the asbestos roof. There was also no fire safety equipment available with the facility. Surprisingly, the same scenario prevails at other third-party manufacturers located at Afzal Nagar and Moosarambagh which Express visited. There are several other such units that have mushroomed at Bala Nagar, Jeedimetla, and Chengicherla to cash in the seasonal booming business.
It may be noted that these manufacturing units, in the view of summer, hold large amounts of dry grass to make it into pads to be used to the sides of air coolers: the sales which skyrocket. And, considering the dry and hot climate prevailing in the city, the conditions are optimal for a fire breakout. When contacted, V Papaiah, RFO, TS Disaster Response and Fire Safety Department said that “they do not authority to legally enforce orders but only check and regulate the spaces.”