Licensed Agencies and Regulators a Checklist of Laws and Sections Under the Maharashtra Fire Act, Which Licensing Agencies and Regulatory Bodies Must Know
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ISSUE 03 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2014 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF LICENSED AGENCIES AND REGULATORS A CHECKLIST OF LAWS AND SECTIONS UNDER THE MAHARASHTRA FIRE ACT, WHICH LICENSING AGENCIES AND REGULATORY BODIES MUST KNOW. WHAT ARE AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS, AND WHY THEY ARE NEEDED MAHARASHTRA LEADS THE WAY IN FIRE SERVICE TRAINING AN OVERVIEW OF THE GAMUT OF LEARNING THAT THE MAHARASHTRA FIRE SERVICES ACADEMY OFFERS. SAFE LIVING, MORALLY AND LEGALLY A ONE-DAY SEMINAR ON ‘MISSION: SAFE LIVING’ WAS ORGANISED BY MAHARASHTRA FIRE SERVICES IN MAY 2014. slug FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK Dear Members, M V DESHMUKH am happy to inform you that our transformed and renamed magazine, FIRETECH, has been very well received. It may be pertinent to inform you that it is forwarded to all Chief Secretaries in the Central and State Government offices, as well as to the heads of all Fire Services in India. We also forwarded copies abroad – to Ithe IFE UK and to International Association of Fire Chiefs, USA. COMMITTEE MEMBERS In December 2013, Maharashtra State completed five years of implementation of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life >> M V Deshmukh (President) Safety Measures Act, 2006, which was notified and came into >> D K Shami (Vice President) force on December 6, 2008. Delhi has completed four years of implementation of the Act. >> R K Sharma (Vice President) The Delhi Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act 1986 and Rules >> S S Warick (Gen Secretary) 1987 stand repealed by a more exhaustive act called Delhi Fire Service Act 2007 (Delhi Act 2 of 2009) and Delhi Fire Service >> S K Rane (Jt Secretary) Rules 2010 notified respectively. >> K Hatyal (Jt Secretary) The core committee and senior officers advised that we stress on Legislative Reforms for Fire Prevention and Safety in India. >> Y H Malu (Hon Secretary) Too often, the focus is on fire safety for high rise buildings as more and more skyscrapers are constructed in our urban areas. However, the incidence of fires and fatalities are often found more in low rise structures, viz the Carlton Tower (Bangalore), Mantralaya Building (Maharashtra), SRA Building (Vikhroli, Maharashtra), and several such fire incidents across the country. In this issue, we have featured a wide variety of articles forwarded by fellow members, as also relevant news and infor- mation. Everyone has put in a splendid effort and worked hard Founder for your reading pleasure. We look forward to your contribu- President, NAFO tions in the form of case studies, incident reports and photos for G B Menon, publication in future issues. B.A., F.I. Fire E (LIFE), F.I.F.E. (INDIA) On this note , welcome to this issue! MSEI Fire Advisor, Government of India (Retd.) Life Fellow, Institution of Fire Engineers (U.K.) [2] NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE OFFICERS OCT - DEC 2013 FIRE - TECH [1] NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE OFFICERS (REGISTRATION NO.: S-35438 OF 1999 UNDER SOCIETIES REGISTRATION ACT XXI OF 1860) O ffice: C/o. Directorate of Maharashtra Fire Services, Maharashtra Fire Service Academy, Vidyanagari, Hans Bhugra Marg, Santacruz (East), Mumbai 400 098, Tel.: 2667 7555, Fax.: 2666 0287. Email: [email protected], [email protected] www.nafoindia.org CONTENTSISSUE 03 n JULY-SEPTEMBER 2014 COVER STORY 32 THE MAHaraSHTra FIRE PREVENTION AND LIFE SAFETY MEASURES ACT, 2006 THE act IS NOW OPERATIONAL FOR OVER EIGHT YEARS. PRESENTING AN OVERVIEW OF THE act, What IT ENtaILS, THE LAWS THAT GOVERN LICENSED AGENCIES, What IT MEANS TO PROVIDE FIRE-SAFE HABItatION, AND THE FINER POINts OF THE ‘CONTRACT’ INCLUDED IN THE act. NEWS NatIONAL 04 INTERNatIONAL 07 PRODUCT & TECH 11 [2] NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE OFFICERS n JULY - SEP 2014 What’S INSIDE E VENT: IFE SEMINAR 12 HOW AN IDEAL FIRE LIFT SHOULD BE DESIGNED 30 PREPARING FOR EFFECTIVE RESCUE, PaRT II 40 LEARNING FROM THE MONT BLANC FIRE 44 LOS ANGELES HIGHRISE FIRE SIMILAR TO MUmbaI HIGHRISE ONE 47 TAKE A FEW SIMPLE STEPS TOWARDS RESILIENCE 48 THE LIQUEFIED NatURAL GAS (LNG) INDUSTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION REGULATIONS 50 MAHARASHTRA LEADS THE WAY IN FIRE SERVICE TRAINING 55 WHEN FIRES ARE SET ON PURPOSE 16 SURVIVING A FIRE AND LEARNING FROM IT 17 WHAT ARE AUTOmatIC SPRINKLERS, AND WHY THEY ARE NEEDED 18 THE NEED FOR PASSIVE SYSTEMS IN FIRE ANDHERI FIRE - A HUGE TRAGEDY IN THE PROTECTION 23 COUNTRY’S FINANCIAL caPItaL 58 NAFO is thankful to The Resource 24x7 for conceptualising and compiling this issue on an honorary basis. Editor - Vrushali Lad Design Director - Jyoti Narkar Designer - Vinayak Dhuri Address - B-10, Zaitoon Apts, Station Road, Goregaon (West), Near Filmistan Studio, Mumbai – 400062 Mobile No: 9892325250. Email - [email protected] P rinted by: COMPACT GIANT (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED, Tel. : 2401 3175, Mob. 9821016828 / 9821412012 / 9768269159 E-mail : [email protected] FIRE - TECH [3] National >> MAJOR FIRE BREAKS OUT AT CONSTRUCTION SITE IN MUMBAI >> A MAJOR FIRE BROKE OUT AT A CONSTRUCTION NEWS SITE OF LEADING CITY-BASED REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER LODHA GROUP IN WADALA ON THURSDAY MORNING. ...... Read More lll Indian train fire kills more than 20 Three killed in CHILDREN AMONG FATALITIES AFTER BUSY sengers were in the two coaches when the explosion in firecracker fire broke out about a mile from the town of TRAIN CATCHES FIRE EN ROUTE FROM Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh state. The train unit in Tamil Nadu BANGALORE TO NANDED was brought to a halt and the coaches were PTI, October 4, 2013 www.theguardian.com, December 28, 2013 delinked from the rest of the train to prevent THREE persons were killed and 11 injured AT least 23 people have been killed after a the fire spreading further. in an explosion at an unlicensed firecrack- busy train caught fire in southern India, rail- Firefighters put out the blaze and retrieved er unit in Chengam, Tiruvannamalai dis- way officials say. The train was on its way at least 23 bodies, including two children. trict today, Fire and Rescue sources said in from the city of Bangalore to Nanded in the More than a dozen people were taken to Chennai. western state of Maharashtra in the early hospital with injuries sustained when they The premises were used for storage pur- hours of Saturday. The driver stopped the jumped from the coaches, according to a rail- poses and crackers were being packed into train when he saw flames coming out of an way official at the scene. gift boxes when the mishap occurred. air-conditioned coach at 3.45am. As the fire Firefighters had to force the doors open Two of the deceased were identified but spread, many passengers broke windows and make their way through the smoke-filled the body of the third was charred beyond and jumped from the train. coaches to reach the dead. Many bodies recognition. “We found traces of sulphur on A rail spokesman, CS Gupta, said 67 pas- were found near the jammed doors. the spot. It is not known if the place was India’s federal railways minister, Mallikarjun also used for making crackers,” V Ramasamy, Kharge, said preliminary reports from the site Tiruvannamalai Divisional Officer, Fire and indicated that the fire was caused by an elec- Rescue Services told PTI. trical short circuit. Accidents are common on Confirming that the unit was unlicensed, India’s rail network, one of the world’s largest he said two fire tenders were pressed into with 18.5 million passengers travelling daily. service immediately to put out the blaze Collisions and fires are mostly blamed on that had also partially spread to a nearby poor maintenance and human error. eatery. The court held 10 people guilty in the Kumbakonam school fire accident in Tamil Nadu Thanjavur: THE much-awaited judgment in the infa- mous Kumbakonam school fire tragedy, which claimed the lives of 94 students, was pronounced by the principal district and sessions court on July 30, 2014, 10 years after the tragedy. The owner of a school, his wife who was the head mistress and school principal are among 10 people found guilty. 11 others, including three teachers have also been acquitted. A total of 94 children died and 18 oth- ers suffered severe burns when a fire broke out at the Sri Krishna aided primary school at Kasiraman street in Kumbako- nam on July 16, 2004. The police registered a case and arrest- ed 24 persons, including Pulavar Palanisa- my (84), founder of the school, his wife and correspondent Saraswathi, their ad- opted daughter and headmistress Santh- analakshmi, noon-meal organiser Vijayal- akshmi, cook Vasanthi, education depart- ment officials and municipal authorities. while, much to the shock of dismay of the district and sessions court on July 30, Though the police filed the chargesheet parents and relatives of the fire victims, 2010. in the judicial magistrate’s court in Kum- three officials – the then director of Hearing a case on May 5 this year relat- bakonam in 2007, there was inordinate school education A. Kannan, the then dis- ing to the school fire tragedy, the Su- delay in conducting the trial, forcing the trict education officer M. Palanisamy and preme Court bench, allowed time till July parents and relatives of the victims to file the then tahsildar M. Paramasivam – were 31, 2014 for the Thanjavur sessions court a petition in the Supreme Court. Mean- discharged from the case by the principal to dispose of the case. [4] NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE OFFICERS n JULY - SEP 2014 45 killed in India Major fire breaks out at construction site in Mumbai The Indian Express, November 21, 2013 bus crash, fire A major fire broke out at a construction site of leading city-based real estate devel- AP, October 30, 2013 oper Lodha Group in Wadala on Thursday A packed bus crashed into a highway barri- morning.