CM hints at more teeth to Fire dept

19 people held in connection with Carlton Towers blaze that claimed nine lives

The major issue is empowering the Fire and Emergency Services Department to re-inspect buildings. As per the prevailing rules, the Department has no power to re-inspect the buildings once the construction is over. According to Fire Department officials it would be an uphill task to re-inspect all the multi-storeyed buildings in the City.

“With the skyline of the City being redrawn every now and then, it is massive proposition to re-inspect the buildings,” an official said. He felt that the power to re-inspect would mean additional burden on the department already stretched in terms of the man power.

Officials state that the responsibility as of now ends with issuing a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to the building during the construction phase. “To re-inspect these buildings would mean tackling the private sector people who keep altering the interiors of the building making it even harder for us to keep checking them time and again,” an official pointed out.

Apart from the lack of powers to re-inspect, the Department also do not has the authority to penalise the violators. “More than us, it is the duty of the Corporation, in this case, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to check violations,”  said the official.  

The department top brass hope that people themselves will be involved in ensuring that blatant violations such as the ones found in Carlton Towers are not repeated elsewhere in the interest of safety of their occupants.

Memorandum

Beyond Carlton, an association of the family and friends of Carlton tower fire victims met Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and officials of Fire and Emergency Services Department at CM’s official residence on Tuesday.

Speaking to media after the meeting, Yeddyurappa said the Government will soon issue an order framing the rules ensuring safety regulations in the multi-storeyed buildings in the City. Instructions have already been issued to existing multi-storeyed buildings for ensuring safety regulations and the police are already in the process of inspecting them, he said.

Yeddyurappa said that police have arrested 19 people in connection with the incident and the government is bearing the cost for the treatment of the injured. Compensation has been paid to the family members of the people who lost lives.
 
Compensation

The chief minister disbursed the compensation amount of Rs two lakhs for the families who lost their bread winners and assured the group of citizens that the Fire and Emergency Department will be further empowered on the lines of the Delhi Fire Act.  He said that the Fire and Emergency Department has already submitted its report and the government is currently awaiting the reports from the City Police and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike

The Association submitted a memorandum appealing the chief minister to ensure justice to the victims by bringing to book all those responsible for the disaster. They sought accountability for the disaster and prevention of such further incidents in the City.