New Buildings Over 70 Metres Must Have Fire Evacuation Lifts To Get NOC From Fire Brigade

SANJAY MANJREKAR took over as the new chief of the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) on November 1. He has been associated with the MFB for more than three decades. In his conversation, Manjrekar talks about his vision towards bettering the service of this brigade during his stint.

• What are the key areas that you are planning to improve? 

My primary focus is to strengthen the manpower. At present, 910 posts of fireman are vacant since no recruitment has taken place for more than three years. Therefore, our priority is to get these posts filled at the earliest. We are expecting to complete the recruitment procedure by the middle of January 2023 and the training session should begin by March.

• In the last two years, we have seen many fire incidents reported from various nursing homes and hospitals. How do you plan to mitigate this issue? 

Every hospital and nursing home should have its firefighting system installed. Often, our officers visit hospitals and nursing homes and carry out sensitisation and awareness drives on fire-fighting measures. Now, as a precautionary measure, we will carry out random inspections in hospitals and commercial establishments to check whether the installed firefighting systems are functional or not and if they are being maintained properly. If we see the equipment is defunct, then notices will be served to the management and action will be taken against them.

• Often, it has been seen during the fire incidents reported in the past few years that the in-built firefighting systems in most of the residential buildings and high-rises fail to work during a blaze. How do you wish to bring an end to this problem? 

According to the Maharashtra Fire Prevention & Life Safety Measure Act, the owner and occupier in a residential building are solely responsible to ensure that the firefighting systems are operational. If the systems are defunct or non-operational, then we will send them a notice immediately for setting up a new system. The Fire Act empowers the brigade to disconnect the electricity and water connection of the building in case of failure to set up a firefighting system. However, our motive is to not take extreme action straight away and we will try to raise awareness by carrying out random inspections to ensure citizens understand the importance of fire safety. These inspection drives will pick up pace soon after the ongoing recruitment process is over.

• With time, technology is also getting advanced. Do you plan to induct new gadgets in the brigade, for the ease of firefighting, and are there any plans to augment the number of fire stations in the city as well? 

We are the first brigade to induct firefighting robots. Earlier, we had one robot and now we are getting two more robots. We have also introduced firefighting bikes for ease of access in dingy lanes and slum areas. Technical assessment of firefighting drones is also being carried out, which could be used both for monitoring and firefighting activities in the future. Besides this, we already have two fire stations ready, one in Borivali and one in Vikhroli. These stations are fully constructed and equipped with all the amenities, but we are unable to operate them due to inadequate manpower. Once the recruitments are done, we will start these stations as well.

• In Mumbai, skyscrapers are being built in every ward, where does the policy of installing a ‘Fire Evacuation Lift’ stand? 

The builders in Mumbai will have to install Fire Evacuation Lifts compulsorily in the new buildings that have a height of more than or equal to 70 metres, without which the Fire Brigade will not issue the No-Objection Certificate (NOC). The old buildings may not need to install compulsorily, but it is advisable that if there is a possibility then evacuation lifts should also need to be installed in old buildings as well.

• Many Mumbaikars are opting for Electric Vehicles (EVs). Earlier this month, we saw a fire breaking out after the battery of an e-bike heated up. Is the fire brigade planning to frame any new policy for safely installing EV charging points within residential buildings? 

Firstly, EVs should not be charged indoors. They should be charged at charging stations that need to be set up at an outdoor location. The occupants of the building, including the security guards should be given proper training on the do’s and don’ts of charging an EV.

Those who intend to install such charging points should contact the local deputy chief engineer (electricity) and get all the necessary verification, inspection and paper-works done. A detailed set of guidelines is being uploaded and available on both the fire brigade and civic body’s websites. Whenever our station officers visit the buildings, they also tell people the necessary guidelines for charging an electric vehicle.