Carlton Fire - What can we learn?

We Failed them!

- We like too much of reality and instead of assisting authorities..the so called samaritans blocked traffic delaying the fire tenders..all becos our phone cameras could capture the tamasha!

- Instead of letting trained professionals handle the situation..asked inmates to make the jump to their death

- The Media was more interested in 'hot news' that their vehicles blocked airport road which inturn delayed the fire tenders..what is media projecting today? The Railway Budjet..no one even bothered about the lives lost..the radio too is running the same fun songs as they were doing yesterday morning..very sad and irresponsible!

- What are the authorities doing about it? Why did they take it so long?

- Now there are reports of stolen property from the office premises there..are we this cheap?

I passed this place at 5PM yesterday and this is a first hand account of what I saw!

This can go on..

No one had to die in this place at all..its a very sad incident!

I will help with replies here on what can be done..

Simple fact is there has to be more value attached to life in India. In the face of money, life and lifestyle becomes expedient. Simple things like fire safety exits are not understood in concept but are kept as a fancy addendum. Even administrators believe having street cleaning machines, latest fire safety equipment etc is a show off not a necessity.

Building managers must be held responsible for incidents like this. In case of multiple owner tenants there always has to be a single responsible owner. Either a society or a professional building management company which can be held responsible for maintenance and training. How does BBMP collect tax for this building from single ovner or from 100 tenants? In which case they have to start enforcing single management ownership concept.

Also, I have noticed where govt/administrators have taken up enforecment seriously results are there to see. The best example is the towing away of vehicles from no parking areas, I see less violations. Keeping it up for a year or more will force the habit to tip perpetually into one of compliance. Traffic police are showing the way, will the fire and other departments catch up?

I have noticed it in several small malls in the city, and had even called BBMP help line once to report this (in 2007, called regarding a shopping building in Marathahalli).

Forget fire sprinklers, or running water in them, in many buildings, you can't easily locate the stairs.

May be we should do a surprise safety audit of some building ourselves. Can't announce in advance, but no harm in 10-12 of us gathering at one pre-selected building, reporting all that we can to make an example.

Perhaps not right now, as the matter is hot, can wait a month or so, the time it takes for things to fade from public and BBMP's memory.

At one stage, former BBMP commissioner Subramanya had put his foot down and said “no” to the sanctioned plan. 

 But the new commissioner ignored the earlier decision and issued NoC.

This is significant enough not to be ignored. What kind of hands are we putting our city in?

Are people able to see beyond their nose when it comes to what this city needs to be in 2050?

Agree that the occupiers should have some minimum sense of responsibility towards their employees, other occupants and nearby buildings.  As an employee I think I have the right to safe premises.  My employer needs to provide this.  I think the tenants are also to blame for not checking the building out.

Safety is treated as "sissy stuff" in our culture.  How many buildings catch fire each year?  How many buildings collapse?  It always happens to others in any case.   And so the temptation to cut corners - nay entire sides of the square!  So the place meant for the fire tender to park will have a coffee shop because that space will go "waste".

In my office in Singapore we used to have quarterly fire drills.  It meant walking down 22 floors for me.   And you know what most of the Indians used to do - they used to work from home on that day!!!  Why take the pain of walking down 22  or 23 floors?  

My worst nightmare is being in a hotel fire - which is why I always check where the fire exit to my floor is, check if it opens, count the number of doors from my room to the nearest fire exit. I am seen as stupid and paranoid!  

But why do only buildings in India think it is okay to violate.  Because we know we can pay our way out of everything - even if it means shooting ourselves in the foot.  There was a report that said the Electrical Inspectorate is understaffed.  Well there are smart of ways of managing.  Have a self certification program with random checks and strict penalties.  But that means no "gimbla".   And so it will not happen.

Srivathsa

@ Ravi - Guess part of this 'business-as-usual' attitude stems from ignorance, apart from of course 'it-wont-happen-to-me' thinking.

One of the victims - Siddarth Padam, highly accomplished, IIMB, ex-Infoscian, unassuming, soft-spoken, and with a ready smile - was from the apartment complex where I stay. I just finished attending the obsequies, where I was witness to the family members trying to explain to the 4 yr-old son that Papa is going away and won't be back for a while. There's a lump in my throat even as I recall the scene. It is too close for comfort.

@ Pranav - May be we should do a surprise safety audit of some building ourselves. Can't announce in advance, but no harm in 10-12 of us gathering at one pre-selected building, reporting all that we can to make an example.

The PU building had been declared unsafe eons ago. Nobody has dared to rent space in it since then. Instead of demolishing and rebuilding, the government chooses to house its offices there, including that of some of the police wings. Won't be surprised if some sections of the fire department also functions from there. So, what's the point in any such exercise?

@ Srinidhi - I have seen lifts in buildings being certified in Chennai by govt authorities for operation..can we not do likewise to cover all saftey stuff?

Like with HT electrical installations, and Boilers and Pressure Vessels, perhaps the government needs to institute an annual inspection for high rises for conformity with Fire Safety rules. And, unlike in the case of the electrical inspection, but very much like for Boilers & Pressure vessels, it has to be a raaj-less inspection - check this.
 

Land might have been acquired for the domlur flyover ramp from the Carlton towers compound since the flyover had been built much after the building had been constructed, thus reducing setbacks - the Midday reporter (Shiva shankar) may not have considered this when writing up the report.

This aside, this note within the report is more revealing :

Anurag Jain, president of Carlton Towers Owners Association, was evasive when asked about the norms that were flouted. "This is not the time to discuss all this. Let us concentrate about the victims and the ways to help them," he said.

This is one doable thing, and we better do something while the matter is hot.

Shall we start with this item first (picking from Major Kapur's list) ?

Interact with Fire Services Department and understand what they expect from every high rise building or multi dwelling unit buildings. That will become our check list.

Need just 2 people to do this necessary first step - either organize a meeting or get hold of a published fire safety manual from state or city government. Publish a version here on gyan, or on your favorite bangalore website.

Once we have this in place, we can try a "citizen's audit" on one building. that will be the next step.

The NBC is a code or guide. It becomes legal tender as soon as the entity (State, municipality, dist. admin., fire dept. etc.) accept the implementation of the code in-toto or with appropriate, local area-specific amendments (similar to road or any other standards). Had mentioned firefighting priority earlier. The entity needs to pass an ordinance / legal notification (gazette?) or some such legal document accepting implementation of the code. BBMP is responsible for issuing building permits and stop / fine violations though they seem to outsource some of the duties to PWD. Refer whole article below - very relevant. Of course, the fire department is another agency that is supposed to inspect, permit plans, and inspect that buildings adhere to the plans.
"
How many floors can be built on a site measuring 30 x 40 in Bangalore? The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is quite clear about it. “Maximum three floors. If anybody exceeds this, then it is a violation of the building bye-laws,” explained the Palike’s Joint Director of Town Planning Thirukangowdru.

But thanks to the new buzz about Akrama-Sakrama scheme, which is for regularising illegal structures, these guidelines have been thrown to the wind and building violations have become the order of the day in many parts of Bangalore. In Nandidurga Extension, a six-storeyed ‘apartment’ has come up on a 30 x 40 feet site. As the site is small, there is no space created to accommodate a lift.
Neighbours said this apartment will have flats as well as commercial establishments.
Another builder is also constructing a six-storeyed building in the same area. Since these structures are setting precedence for others, the worried neighbours formed a group and approached the Lokayukta.

Neighbours complained that the BBMP assistant engineer’s office is hardly a few metres away from the construction site. However, the assistant engineer turned a blind eye towards the violation of the building by-laws. When the local residents complained against the illegal construction and about the assistant engineer’s silence, the BBMP woke up to stop the construction work.

The only action BBMP took was to repatriate him to PWD. Now another assistant engineer has been appointed at Nandidurga Extension and another multi-storeyed building is coming up on a 30 x 40 site.

The story is being repeated across the City. The engineers in the BBMP are least concerned about action against them. They know well that the BBMP cannot initiate action against 90 per cent of them because their parent organisation is not the BBMP but the Public Works Department of the State government. “The maximum we can do is transfer them to their parent organisation and suggest their bosses to suspend them,” said a BBMP official. Corrupt officers are gradually eating up the City, he added.

Taking up the case seriously, the BBMP commissioner recently issued a directive to the engineers that he would file a criminal case against them if they allow building bye-law violations and do not report the matter to their higher-ups.

When contacted in this regard, the BBMP Commissioner Bharatlal Meena confirmed that such buildings were illegal and such structures could not be allowed to stand for long. When asked whether the BBMP can take action against those engineers who are working in the Palike on deputation, the commissioner said the Palike may not initiate action directly, it can recommend to their parent organisation to take disciplinary step against them. In addition to it, the BBMP has decided to file criminal cases against the engineers as well.
"
source http://www.deccanherald.com/content/36893/six-storeyed-apartment-constructed-1200.html


 

" there were many violations of the sanctioned building plans, primarily by those who purchased space there "

" Unauthorized shops and grills of a restaurant also blocked the fire exit. The hoarding around the building blocked the movement of fire tenders "

- Click here for more in TOI.

No matter how many levels of enforcement, or how frequent the inspections, our greedy & immoral civil society always seeks to subvert order & find ways to break laws & rules just as easily - & pay bribes as a routine necessity in life.

It's easy to blame BBMP, Fire dept & PWD, but the real problem lies with our society that makes no bones whatsoever about violating every code, irrespective of economic standing.

This case is a classic example of this principle. The building's occupants were all wealthy & better off than most. But they still tried to get away with many violations in basic safety. The restaurant/s on the ground floor - they really had no reason to violate any laws since they catered to the best of clients, deriving better profit margins, but they still saw it fit to block stairway exit/s.

Why ? Because this is what there is in everyone's blood :  "Laws are not to be followed implicitly since they infringe on my well being, they are to be treated with contempt & disrespect. In short, they are there to be broken & violated" as & when they cause inconvenience to me !

But where are the arrests for the BBMP and Fire Officials who issued the NOC and the OC ??? They can let something go wrong for more than 10 years!

Are you suggesting that BBMP has to inspect every building in the city each year ? Are the owners of individual units within the building, the tenants /occupants & the building society exempt from all blame ? All of them had violated safety norms in different ways, & are directly responsible for this multiple tragedy, as were people that surrounded the building & obstructed fire forces from reaching in time.

All reports suggest that the building was in compliance when built & therefore, BBMP had issued OC - this is normal.

Further, as far as BBMP is concerned, I think there is a stipulation that buildings above a certain age limit (like 25 years or so) only need to be inspected.

As far as I know, the law requires only annual certification for lifts & fire equipment in multi-storey buildings. Thus, the authorities must additionally target the firms & individuals who last certified fire safety for the building, & not BBMP.

A comment in the DH article reads :

They talk about technology, where are the well equipped fire fighting equipments and fire fighters ? why dont they spend on these ? Fire fighting technology is so advanced that these incidents can be putt off within minutes, maybe the govt has no knowlegde about it at all, Wake up guys.....human lifes are precious.

I think this is irresponsible talk - Fire equipment & forces could have reached the building only if they were unhindered & free of obstacles. How could they have reached the spot when hoardings /grills /shops etc. were in the way ?

The concern was more about what went wrong in 1993 at the Carlton Towers that it got a conditional OC and what was corrected in 1999 that it got everything cleared? 

And I am not too sure it takes more than 6 years to complete/fix things which are very critical to human life!

Coming to the yearly certifications from fire dept itself needs to be questioned..

Here is an excellent document which can be used for any audits that we plan to do..its about the bylaws in BBMP

http://www.spaenvis.nic.in/pdfs/Byelaws/Bangalore-Building-Byelaws.pdf

There is a lot of detail on how buildings need to be built taking care of all aspects including fire..

"In case of high rise buildings parking space may be provided in the set back after leaving a minimum setback of 6 Mtrs alround the building to enable movement of Fire Tender." 

Isnt that an offeset of close of 10 mts(25 ft) when there is parking..I am not sure if any building really is built according to this standard!

For the OC, the clause says:

 1. He shall not add or alter materially, the structure or a part of the structure there off without specific permission of BMP. In the event of the applicant violating, the BMP has the right to demolish the deviated/altered/added portion without any prior notice.

2. He shall construct the toilet facilities for the visitors, drivers and servants at Ground floor Level within the plinth area of the building within 3 months from the date of issue of O.C.

3. The basement floor must be used for car parking purpose only as per sanctioned plan. 

Wasn't there visual violations at the building enough to get OC  invalidated? What were the BBMP authorities doing here?

Its not that the building owners are innocent but lets not get the authorities slip away!

The basement floor must be used for car parking purpose only as per sanctioned plan.

Why? Can somebody not build a MLCP and use the basement for something else? Isnt it sufficient if somebody proves they have parking? Why do they have to mandatorily have it in the basement? Isnt it safer if it is not in the basement and was somewhere else seperated from the main building?

Are these kind of rules the reason for non-compliance?

The concern was more about what went wrong in 1993 at the Carlton Towers that it got a conditional OC and what was corrected in 1999 that it got everything cleared?

Occupancy certificates for high rises are never immediately handed out - these take time & I think one of the requirements is that there must be a registered society, which takes long to establish. In the apartment complex that I had lived, we had received OC after nearly five years after all blocks had been built & after the society had been registered.

Coming to the yearly certifications from fire dept itself needs to be questioned.

Should this be much more frequent ? If so, then how frequent - once every 6 months or lesser for each building in the city ? This would not be practicable.

Isnt that an offeset of close of 10 mts(25 ft) when there is parking..I am not sure if any building really is built according to this standard!

I think that most, if not all large buildings (7 or more floors) have the large, prescribed setbacks, viz. 30 ft setbacks on 3 sides & 40ft in the front. In the case of Carlton towers, I think some land was acquired on two sides (south & west) when the flyover was being built. Thus, setbacks on the two sides facing roads might have been lesser, but this is acceptable in such cases since the land was given up for public infrastructure.

European downtown areas - Wonder how they manage fire, and what the rules are.

I have stayed in similar heritage hotel buildings at Salzburg, Vienna, Copenhagen (Gentofte), Munich, etc. They usually have fire sensors in each room. Some rooms have battery operated stand alone sensor-alarms if extensive re-wiring is not possible. Many more fire extinguishers are available. A separate small bore fire main with automatic heat sensing sprinkler heads is also fitted where possible (not connected to domestic water main) since stairways might not suffice for mass evacuation.

Naveen,

I started my career more than 13 years ago in a company which installed DDC controllers, fire panels and detectors. I have commissioned many buildings in Blr and else where around India. Once in Vadodra, there was a fire officer onsite for checking a Posh 5* hotel and after the mandatory electronics check he went to the pumps. When turned on it could reach 4 floors only and the hotel was 7 floors. The hotel management hushed this up with a payment. 

This is not an isolated incident..its rampant everywhere!

I  can cite many building which have the violations for the fire brigade passage as mandated. They have either converted the space to parking or for setting up offices itself. Havent we have seen many many building violating the 'basement for parking' rule. 

If HAL board approved and building was done 1993..lets not now hide behind a excuse saying everything is ok with what happened and turn a blind eye to it..BBMP has a clause that any violations will be dealt with seriously..so why wasnt it done all these days? Btw we all know the story of the violations the Diamond District building caused..to the extent they were not allowed to open the premises for years and suddenly everything was normal without any modifications by the builder!

Let the authorities face the legal heat..maybe that will stop the sakrama process itself!

If you talk of one building not violating the rules..I can get you 20 which are violating..

Its high time we stand up and stop the menace!

Thinking back about the fire safety audit idea, like many have said, picking out a building to audit for violation is going to be ugly, buildings won't allow us, and there will be cries of why me, why not that other building.

I would think the following two things are doable

• Sanjay's idea of picking out a complaint building and giving it some publicity is a good one. If not anyone else, we can get IT companies to come forward and support this audit. They will get some nice publicity.
• Can explore a PIL to ensure that the guilty party  (whether its BBMP, the building owner, the tenant or some engineer or architect) in Calrton tower is called out (and punished as defined by the laws)

Given the following facts, we may have grounds for a PIL

• Various news reports have us (the public) confused. Did BBMP do its job or not? Did the tenants do the mandatory fire safety drills or not? Public needs to know what caused the loss of a dozen lives.
• Most of the lives were not lost due to the fire itself, Manipal Hospital is on record with supporting statements. What would the cause for suffocation? Blocked Fire exits, or some missing provision in air conditioning systems related to fire safety? Didn't we see people breaking open the glass panes, looked like there may not have been enough windows.

Bottomline, lives were lost in a high rise public-access building. Public needs to know what went wrong, and who was the guilty party. Fire itself may have been an accident, but what happened post that has to be analyzed by the courts in the interest of public awareness.

Update: as of now, the newspapers are on it, and a case is already in the works. If it doesn't fix clear responsibilities for the dozen deaths, should then explore a PIL.

In the US, most large buildings are subject to an annual fire marshall inspection (the fire force does not have much to do until an emergency occurs - so their full time job should be to inspect and ensure compliance) .  The fire marshall arrives unannounced, normally in the mornings and inspects the building, checks fire drill registers etc. for compliance.  Violators are given a period of time to fix noted deficiencies.

Do we have a rule like this in India / Bangalore. If not, now is the time to bring in such a law and fund positions to do the inspections. We can also mandate that the fire marshall's report is to be a publically available document for each building.  Unfortunately, it always takes a few disasters for the public to wake up and do something in most cases.

I was tempted to put up my office there, but can't do that without checking with them. Won't get anything done by putting them in a spot. Most likely, there is no need for educating them because we have things in place - regular fire drills, that alarm rings once or twice a month when that happens, extenguishers etc are visibly in place and tested, don't see any exits locked, stairs are all open and clear etc etc etc. With an established Security and Risk office with clear responsibilities, we are good. But I still need to check with them, before I even propose anything here.

If anyone has a building they want to highlight as a positive example, (malls, office complexes, new residential buildings), mention here. Don't mention unless you are reasonably sure, and, are a stakeholder in that building. Generally naming 3rd party properties is not a good thing.

 Only that charity begins at home.  We spend more than 50% of our waking hours in that blessed place called office.  So if you can ask your Security and Risk a list of uncomfortable questions and they pass that should mean that you are in good hands.  

Srivathsa

the owner is ultimately responsible for everything for that goes wrong with any building. Let them not escape from murder charges when lives are lost due to their negligence, unless he has complied with every requirement enforced

Ravi, atleast you are stating something that sounds far more logical & sensible. This is exactly what I had been trying to say too.

Srinidhi /SB,

It goes without saying that building violations are rampant - there is no denying this. For each building that might be in full conformity, there are perhaps a hundred in gross violation or even a thousand, rather than the 20 mentioned. In fact, conformance itself is seen as unusual & a "misnomer" !

What I disagree with is that the general public blame "authorities" for any & all of these violations, placing the onus of strict adherence wholly & entirely on them (authorities), & holding authorities fully responsible with contempt, whilst not placing the larger blame on owners. This is despite the fact that there is evidence that clearly suggests that the multiple set of owners had violated most safety norms for personal gain, possibly after the building was in conformance initially (1999).

If for example, the BBMP had issued a conditional OC in 1993 that had been cleared only after six years, doesn't this suggest that BBMP had probably done the right thing & had reacted correctly to set right any violations ? Sadly, the public tends to smell a rat even here, suspecting that something was amiss with the process !

As SB has correctly stated, BBMP can only conduct random checks, but they may have overlooked Carlton towers. It is possible that the building may have been audited randomly & found in violation, & bribes may have been paid, but this question is secondary, though it needs to be checked & verified. If indeed this has occurred, than the BBMP staff responsible will no doubt be abettors who must be taken to task.

Why do we not shoot at the many powerful owners who combined units, took over access spaces & blocked off stairways ? What about the society - why were stairway doors kept locked, denying escapeways to people ? Why did the building have hoardings within that blocked passage for fire engines ? Why did the ground floor restaurant erect grills, preventing access to rescue personnel ? Who did all this ? Not BBMP - the society & owners did all this, & they are primarily responsible.

That BBMP (& fire safety dept) did not clamp down on these violations is the next question that needs probing, but why do we tend to highlight only this every time ?

I'm not at all convinced that this sort of reaction by the public is correct.

Re. Sakrama, though this scheme is itself dubious & is in violation of the principles of law, the various citizens groups & RWAs had rejected it because the citizens, already in violation of building norms, did not want to pay for 'regularization', & not because the scheme was ethically & morally questionable. In my opinion, the correct solution is to hike up property taxes for all buildings that are in violation, never regularize them with fines.

All buildings in violation must continue to pay substantially higher property taxes each year until the violations have been set right - this would have been the correct solution. Further, the various BDA /BBMP /revenue officers responsible for issuing OCs must be charged as abettors since records exist as to who sanctioned them.

Its worth a mention that besides Ravi and myself, don't see any offers of help with either of these

1. collect safety codes, try present the collection here, online.
2. a positive audit-cum-publicity of a good example.
3. possibly, if there are enough people willing, use Carlton Tower case to fix a lot of things, via a PIL.

Not complaining really. But knowing the profile of members here, I know people don't raise hands generally, some convincing and planning would be required. We could just do a meeting to plan if above 3 is it, or we can do some project which is more distributed and can involve more poeple/members here.

If the meeting itself can be combined with #2 above (a positive public audit-cum-publicity for some building), that would work very well.

PS: In the end, doing any such thing would need 5-6 people to drive it and share workload. No harm if we don't have that many willing today, someday we will!

SB /Others,

No harm trying, but will any private commercial building society permit safety audits of their high-rise tower by praja to be later posted on web page/s ? I doubt very much since they might have reservations, especially after the Carlton tower incident.

The response would of course be different from residential towers, but then there isn't much point surveying them. The real dangers are in commercial towers where hundreds, if not thousands are concentrated & work in small cubicles or in open halls.

You can count me in, if we want to go ahead, though.

Sanjay,

On the present day image, do you notice a road on the right adjacent the ramp, particularly on the southeast corner of carlton towers ?

This road had earlier been well away from Carlton towers & the building's compound wall had included the many trees within, as seen on the 2000 map. When the flyover had been built, this road for free left to airport road for vehicles from Indiranagar (over the storm drain) had been widened as also a part of airport rd itself in front of Carlton towers to accommodate an extra lane to facilitate merging of vehicles.

Since I had been using the road regularly, I had noticed these during construction of the flyover.

So, let us enact that the owner is ultimately responsible for everything for that goes wrong with any building.

Well said Ravi, this is the bottom line. Some premises may go further than what may be mandated so ultimately it should be the owner/managements responsibility to ensure safety of their occupants and be held responsible for the same. minimum standards must be audited though. Looks like carlton had sprinklers & equipment which didnt have water, so no use really. Sprinklers are like airbags, cant test till they actually go off during event.

The above three issues are distinct and should not be mixed up. 

1. The high rise building bye laws need to be written by competent experts bearing in mind the risk to human life. The laws have to evolve naturally and fine tuned over a period of time.
2. Proper maintenance requirements also need to be laid down.
3. Fire safety norms need to be properly spelt out. 

The responsibility of loss of life thus could be on both the owner and the tenant.  It looks ridiculous (unlawful high handedness) to arrest the tenant’s employee. Hope some of these issues are brought up in the assembly by our elected representatives. 

The Electrical Inspectorate has indicted the Carlton Towers Owners' Association and its management for the tragedy that struck the building last Tuesday, killing nine persons and injuring over 60.

Click here for full report.

 This is incredibly brave of these folks.  It is the people who pay the ultimate sacrifice who will remember this incident for the rest of their lives.  We should support their fight to clearly determine guilt, punish the guilty and more importantly make the necessary process changes that will prevent such event s in the future.  

Right now, Commissioner Shankar Bidari has put out a detailed notice (link to full text here) to owners and residents under powers conferred upon him under the Karnataka police act. However, this is a one time action which may at best fix some of existing deficiencies and does not ensure future violations will be identified and prevented

When there is a fire drill, it is easy to think, I know how many flights are there, and how much time it is needed for me to take those steps. If I take part only then I know, the fire exits are closed!!

It is also a case of safety versus security. There is also need to prevent something like theft using the fire escape, so it is okay to keep it locked so long as everyone knows how to open it.

I hope this incident is considered an election issue, and the next council does better work for safety of the citizens.

Nitin, glad to note that you survived. Must have been a horrible experience, and most likely, for no fault of yours at all.

Some folks here as well are trying to get a group going to do something towards building safety awareness but are currently short of people (http://praja.in/en/projec...). Will be great if you could move/copy/duplicate your facebook group here. Can make a dedicated website for the cause to give it more attention.

Regardless, will try to link your facebook group to the fire safety project some people are trying. We are trying to build this non-profit and open website up as a bangalore civic issue focused place.

The Bangalore District Court on KG Road does not have fire extinguishers. The only fire extinguisher in the building is placed in the record room.

The civil court complex has a number of fire extinguishers but a portion of the building’s cellar is used as offices. When asked about using a portion of the cellar being used for offices, Mr Vijayakumar, a PWD AE posted at the court complex to take care of maintenance, said efforts would be made to shift them to other floors.

For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.

The New Indian Express has over the week been publishing a series of reports on fire safety issues in government buildings. The non-preparedness is evident everywhere, almost uniformly. The answer very simply lies in engaging competent contractors (of whom there are plenty available today - check this) for maintenance, and instituting a proper and non-exploitative inspection regime (check this).