Need to take comprehensive measures to prevent fire in tall buildings – State Fire Services Director Santosh Warick
Pune, 25 July 2022: Cities in the state are developing rapidly and a large number of tall buildings are being built. The lack of fire safety in these buildings was pointed out several times. Therefore, if a fire occurs in such a place, along with loss of life, other resources are also damaged to a large extent. This damage is preventable by following fire safety rules. So it is necessary to look at it seriously. While constructing tall buildings, it is necessary to consider whether they are competent in terms of fire safety or not. There are provisions in the Fire Act for such buildings. But due to its non-implementation, the fire threat remains. Therefore, Maharashtra Fire Service Director Santosh Warick expressed that instead of discussing fire safety after fire incidents, there is a need to take comprehensive measures to prevent fire.
Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI) organized a seminar on tall buildings and their safety in the main auditorium of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER). At this time, Warick was guiding the program as the president. Many luminaries were present in this seminar and important topics were discussed and guided here. Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI) organizes many events throughout the year and this was one of the most important events.
FSAI National President Ajit Raghavan, former Goa State Fire and Emergency Services Director and FSAI National Secretary Ashok Menon, CTBUH India Director Anuja Sawant, FSAI Pune President Nitin Joshi, Secretary Archana Gavane, Trikolnath Tiwari, Convener Ajit Yadav, Pooja Gaikwad, Sujal Shah Sheth, Shashank Kulkarni, Simple Jain, Anand Gadekar, Anuja Karhu were present.
Warrick said that the responsibility of fire safety can only be fulfilled with the participation of construction professionals, developers, architects, structural engineers and building stability standards officers. The state government has recently made it mandatory to install and operate ‘fire evacuation lifts’ in buildings of height 70 meters and above. Many developers of tall buildings in cities like Mumbai have installed or are currently opting for non-certified or substandard fire evacuation solutions/lifts. However, due to quality compromises by builders and regular passenger lift manufacturers, these non-rated fire solutions/evacuation lifts may not provide adequate safety and security to people in case of fire. In contrast, Warrick said fire evacuation lifts are a safer and more reliable option.
Pankaj Dharkar, former chairman of FSAI, asserted that the safety rating being prepared by FSAI will be important for the fire safety of tall buildings. It also gave detailed guidance on the systems used globally.
Green Building Consultant Pankaj Dharkar, Senior Associate Architect Pushyamitra Londhe, Jackson Jose, Director, FOGTEC Fire Protection India, Narendra Dubedi, Executive Director, SAS Powertec, Sourav Chattopadhyay, Director, Grun Designs Suraj Nair, Preeti Pujari, Chief Engineer, KPM Consulting, Orient Fire Curtains India ( Indo British Joint Venture) Director & Managing Partner Raman Kapoor, Sterling Engineering Consulting Services Director Girish Dravid, Hitakshi Safety Solutions CEO Subodh Arora, Buro Happold Group Director Manish Negandhi, Chief Consultant Tack Mathews, Gaurav Chattopadhyay of Lubrizol all gave guidance on various topics.
