The recent devastating fire in a high-rise building in Bangalore made headlines in all the newspapers. Myosre is hast becoming a high-rise city with hundreds of tall buildings which have either already come up or are being built. To find out if similar catastrophes can happen in Mysore, a delegation from Mysore Grahakara Parishat met Mr. C. Gurulingaiah, the Regional Fire Officer recently.
The Karnataka State Government has issued a notification No. NaAI:628:MNY:2003 dated 19-12-2003 which mandates that all high-rise buildings (HRBs meaning, buildings having five (1+4) floors or more or taller than 15 meters) in Mysore should strictly follow the National Building Code on the provision of fire prevention and fire-fighting equipment. The GO further states that a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department is mandatory before licence to build a multi-storeyed building is issued. Also, a clearance certificate from the fire department is compulsory for issuing a completion report.
The Joint Director of the Department of Fire Services has issued a letter (No. GBC (1) 42/2003 dated 20-01-2004) reminding the City Corporation and MUDA that the GO has to be obeyed. The present RFO has also issued reminder to the civic authorities in Mysore about this matter.
But despite these notifications and reminders, several dozens of buildings which have not received clearance certificates from the fire department are functioning as apartment buildings, hospitals, hotels and commercial complexes. Either Mysore City Corporation has illegally issued completion reports to these buildings (without a clearance certificate from the fire department) or these buildings are being illegally occupied (because Sec. 310(2) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act prohibits occupation of a building which has no CR) and MCC is not taking any action against such violations. THESE BUILDINGS ARE UNSAFE FROM THE FIRE ANGLE AND SO BANGALORE TYPE DISASTERS ARE WAITING TO HAPPEN IN MYSORE ALSO.
Some of the fire department regulations have been included in the 2003 edition of the Bangalore building bylaws (available here ). These are derived from the specifications given in Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety) of the National Building Code (click here). A look at just a few of the statutes related to HRBs makes it obvious that OF THE HUNDREDS OF HRB'S IN MYSORE, ALMOST NONE SATISFIES THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS:
1. HRBs can be constructed only on roads wider than 12 m (to provide access to fire engines).
2. Every HRB must have at least two means of access (remote from one another) of minimum 4.5 m width and minimum 4.5 m clearance.
3. HRB of 15 m height must have 5 m setback on all sides. The setback width increases by 1m for every 3m increase in height of the building. The setback on all sides must be hard-surfaced to carry a load of 18 tons (the weight of a fire engine) and must be free of any structures, projection or construction upto a height of 4.5 m so that fire engines can go around the building without hindrance.
4. Car parking must be at the basement and it should be provided with at least two ramps (remote from one another). Car parking can be provided in the setbacks around the building only if the setbacks are more than 9 m wide and a space of 5 m from the building line is left free for the movement of fire engines.
5. Every HRB must have at least two staircases (remote from one another) abutting the outer wall of the building. The staircases must be enclosed and must have fire resistant doors. They must not extend to the basement.
There are additional requirements in the National Building Code on construction materials, fire fighting installations, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, etc., which are not met in most HRBs. Even without considering them and considering only the requirements listed above, it is clear that there is scarcely any high-rise building in Mysore which meets them. Such HRBs can not get a clearance certificate from the fire department and hence a CR from the City Corporation. Occupying these buildings would be illegal. PROSPECTIVE TENANTS AND BUYERS OF THESE PROPERTIES MUST BE AWARE OF THIS FACT. It is shocking that civic authorities are allowing multi-storeyed buildings to be built and occupied all over the city, in total disregard of fire safety considerations.
It is surprising that the building bylaws of Bangalore are fairly comprehensive about the fire requirements, while the bylaws of Mysore City Corporation are woefully deficient. Most of the requirements mentioned above are absent from MCC bylaws. As a result, these bylaws mislead the builders. Even if a building is built in strict accordance with MCC bylaws, it will, in all probability not meet all the requirements of the fire department and will not receive its clearance. According to law, it can not receive a CR from MCC and can not be legally occupied. It has been 7 years since the GO on fire safety was issued and it is shocking that MCC has still not incorporated it into its building bylaws.
Even though the municipal law is strong in Bangalore, its enforcement is weak as evidenced in the recent disaster. In Mysore, the municipal law itself is weak.
Apart from the high-rise buildings which now dot the Mysore landscape and pose the biggest threat to fire safety, there are many other high fire risk areas. A major public fire risk is Devaraja Market. Since the footpaths have all been encroached, it is not easily accessible to the fire fighters. The highly combustible plastic awnings increase the fire hazard even more. Exhibition-sales which take place throughout the year in various open grounds and various indoor halls in the city also do not get clearance from the fire department and run a high risk of fire disasters.
Another factor which increases the chance of a fire disaster in Mysore is the apparent lack of coordination between the fire department, the police, the paramedics and municipal authorities. This is hampering the disaster management capabilities of the fire department.
P.M. Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat