<p>With outdated fire extinguishers and no backup plan to evacuate people in case of a disaster, Jammu and Kashmir civil secretariat has no disaster management system in place.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A senior officer of fire and emergency department said all 18 fire extinguishers installed inside the secretariat building have expired. <br /><br />“An expired fire extinguisher has to be replaced immediately. However, fire extinguishers installed inside the secretariat haven’t been replaced for decades now and in case of a fire, they will not work,” he added.<br /><br />Sources told Deccan Herald that a few months ago, a senior police officer as in-charge of the secretariat security had written to higher authorities, saying that secretariat building lacked a fire fighting system and “has no evacuation plan in case of a disaster.”<br /><br />However, they said, no one in the administration took the matter seriously until the Mumbai Mantralaya blaze last month in which five people died and 14 were injured.<br /><br />According to sources, after the Mumbai Mantralaya blaze, a high-level meeting was called by B B Vyas, principal secretary to the chief minister, in the secretariat. G A Bhat, director general, fire and emergency services could not give a satisfactory reply, sources added.</p>
<p>With outdated fire extinguishers and no backup plan to evacuate people in case of a disaster, Jammu and Kashmir civil secretariat has no disaster management system in place.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A senior officer of fire and emergency department said all 18 fire extinguishers installed inside the secretariat building have expired. <br /><br />“An expired fire extinguisher has to be replaced immediately. However, fire extinguishers installed inside the secretariat haven’t been replaced for decades now and in case of a fire, they will not work,” he added.<br /><br />Sources told Deccan Herald that a few months ago, a senior police officer as in-charge of the secretariat security had written to higher authorities, saying that secretariat building lacked a fire fighting system and “has no evacuation plan in case of a disaster.”<br /><br />However, they said, no one in the administration took the matter seriously until the Mumbai Mantralaya blaze last month in which five people died and 14 were injured.<br /><br />According to sources, after the Mumbai Mantralaya blaze, a high-level meeting was called by B B Vyas, principal secretary to the chief minister, in the secretariat. G A Bhat, director general, fire and emergency services could not give a satisfactory reply, sources added.</p>
