Bhopal: Fire tragedy of Karol Bagh, Delhi, has raised the issue of fire safety measure in hotels of state capital. Civic body shrugs off its responsibility and accountability stating there is no well defined Fire Act in Madhya Pradesh while district administration says that there is already fixed protocol which hotels have to follow.
There are over 3000 hostels in state capital which are located in congested areas. Many a hotels are operated in areas where lanes happen to be so congested that even fire fighters cannot have access to handle the situation in case of fire. Not just this they even do not have proper parking space. Another concern is of entry and exit points.
Hotels which have a common exit and entry will pose difficultly in situations which require speedy evacuation. Few years ago the fire incident in the hotel Amer Palace of MP Nagar Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to take help of high rise hydraulic platforms to save visitors.
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also expressed deep concern on lack of safety measures in hostels due to their locations. Fire-in-charge officer of BMC Rameshwar Nil said, “Actually, we are helpless as we simply serve notices to hotels owners. We cannot take action as there is Fire Act in Madhya Pradesh.
Entire hotels of Hamidia Road stretch are in such a congested area despite on main road. Problem with hotels is they have same entry and exit as they do not have scope or margin to make other exit points. However, hostels fulfill the formalities like having fire hose.”
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) general secretary Bhupendra Jain said, “Hotels running in congested places is a serious issue. Concerned authorities should monitor the situation closely as over 3000 hostels are being run in congested localities and even fire fighters cannot reach there.”
Anil Verma, Amer Palace’s fire cell in-charge, “We have sufficient arrangement in our hotels. There must be proper training to operate the equipment and we have all trained employees. As such there is no problem in our hotels. In just couple of days ago, fire was in oil material in Alakhnanda complex but BMC fire fighters used water to douse. We should properly convey message to fire fighter about nature of the fire so appropriate help.”
ADM Santosh Verma said, “There is already protocol regarding hotels. We ensure for proper implementation of norms. If there is any complaint about lacuna, we look into matter. Hostels management have to follow the norms, rules and regulations. As far as Fire Act is concerned, there is no as such situation, there are protocol and hotels have to run their business as per the fixed protocol.”
