Page 15 - Risk Management Bulletin January-June 2023

RMAI BULLETIN JANUARY - JUNE 2023

d. Appropriate and adequate funding; incidents with such unnecessary loss of life and
e. Training insttutons; property are as follows:
a. Kolkata – Bada Bazaar – 12th January, 2008, 2500
f. Infrastructural facilites – fre statons and
shops were guted, property worth crores
accommodaton of personnel etc.;
destroyed. The fre could not be controlled and put
g. Vulnerability analysis; out for days together; it was found difcult to reach
h. Public awareness (DOs & DON’Ts), conduct of the source of fre because of narrow lanes and
regular mock exercises and evacuaton drills; and there was also scarcity of adequate water to put
it out.
i. Uniform fre safety legislaton in some of the states.

b. Jaipur – IOC depot – 30th October, 2009, 12
SFAC norms for setng up fre statons persons were killed, 200 injured, half a million
The SFAC has laid down norms for setng up of fre evacuated from the neighborhood. The fre could
statons. The criterion for setng them up are as follows. not be controlled for over a week because nothing
a. Response tme (3 to 5 minutes in urban areas and was available to put out the oil fre. It stopped only
20 minutes in rural areas); when the fre burnt itself out.
b. The scale of populaton to be served; and
c. Kolkata – Park Street – 23rd March, 2010, 26
c. The number of minimum standard equipment that
persons were killed, some even jumped to death
are needed and manpower required for its
because the key of the terrace gate was missing
operaton.
and the trapped persons could not escape to the
Source: Compendium of recommendatons of SFAC terrace. Hydraulic ladder also could not reach in
tme because of trafc congeston. It was statoned
Overall shortage in the country in a garage in Behala area far from the down town
On the basis of the norms laid down by SFAC, the and business hub of Kolkata with many high rise
buildings.
existng defciencies as regards fre statons, fre fghtng
vehicles and personnel are as follows.
a. Fire statons – 97.54%; d. Fire at AMRI Hospital – Kolkata on 9th November,
2011, 90 patents could not be evacuated and died
b. Fire fghtng and rescue vehicles – 80.04%; and
of suffocaton. There was no fre fghtng equipment
c. Fire personnel – 96.28%. in the hospital and the community who wanted to
Source: Compendium of recommendatons of SFAC come and help were not adequately trained and
also found it difcult to get inside because the
Slow pace of growth of fre services security decided to block them.

Though deliberatons by the SFAC for improving the fre
The situaton is alarming and needs to be improved
services in the country have been done regularly, immediately. There is an urgent need for all the states
defciencies clearly identfed and various
to get vulnerability analysis done of all densely
recommendatons made, too litle or very delayed /
populated, important and hazardous locatons in
inadequate steps have been taken to become beter various states, assess and fx the requirement of
prepared. The result is that even in the most recent
equipment and manpower, spread awareness amongst
fre incidents, the response has not been as it should
the people regarding do’s and don’ts so that such
be. Avoidable deaths and huge loss of property
incidents are prevented and if they occur, they are
contnue to occur even today. Some of the recent tackled promp

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