A team of officers from the state fire and emergency services department inspected South City Garden in southwest Kolkata on Sunday and recommended the installation of fire-resistant doors at the emergency exits of the housing complex off New Alipore, sources in the department said.
The inspection followed a fire in a flat on the ninth floor of a 14-storey tower on February 18, which had exposed lacunae in the firefighting system of the housing complex that has more than 700 apartments. Fire department officials said Sunday’s inspection focussed on examining documents to find out whether the complex complied with all government rules.
“We wanted to check the existing housing documents, the status of the papers and if the norms were followed,” said Ranveer Kumar, director-general, fire and emergency services department.
Sources in the fire department said the fire licence of the complex had lapsed in 2015.
“It was apparent that the complex had not complied with several norms recommended by the fire department when they had last applied for the renewal of their fire licence. The recommendation letter from the (fire) department asking for specific compliances has been found. So the license could not be renewed (because of non-compliance),” said an official.
Non-compliance after the end of a 30-day notice period attracts a police case, an official in the fire department said.
An officer said point-wise recommendations would be sent to the housing complex.
It is mandatory for all housing societies to get a fire licence and renew it every three years after getting the premises inspected by the authorities, the official said.
Joydeep Banerjee, secretary of the South City Garden residents’ association, said they were ready to implement all recommendations made by the fire department. “Even before we receive the formal notice, we will start implementing the recommendations that have been shared with us verbally,” Banerjee said.
Residents of the housing complex said they had decided to install fire-resistant doors soon.
“We have two emergency exit doors on each floor. Each fire-resistant door costs around Rs 25,000 and we need around 400 such doors. The existing doors, which the promoter had installed, are made of plywood,” Banerjee said.
A resident said a leakage was found in the fire hydrant while dousing the fire on the ninth floor.