In a first, the fire department has proposed to cancel licences of many city hotels and hospitals that have failed to meet the fire safety standards and are running sans adequate fire safety precautions.
“A letter to cancel their licences has been sent to the CMO and the district magistrate . The list includes both big and small names in both hotel and hospital sectors,” said Mangesh Kumar, chief fire officer (CFO), Lucknow, adding that a letter would be sent to the electricity department as well to cut their electricity as their electrical equipments were sub-standards which could be a source of short circuit.
As per Lucknow Fire & Emergency Services, the department started a rapid inspection of hotels and hospitals across the city. During the inspection, fire safety arrangements were found to be substandard in 38 hotels and 35 hospitals. A few months back, they were served notices and given 30 days to improve fire safety arrangements.
“Fire station officers of respective areas were tasked with inspecting such hotels and hospitals . After finding multiple problems, they were first given a stipulated time period to improve things. Even after this time period, the hotel and hospital operators did not pay heed to the notice. On this, the fire department issued a show cause notice and asked for a reply within 15 days. There was no reply by the stipulated time, hence action will be taken to cancel the licences of the hotels and hospitals,” said the CFO.
The fire officers who conducted the inspections said that there was only one door for entry and exit. Smoke detectors, sprinklers and tanks were not found at some places. If a fire broke out in such establishments, it would be difficult to control the blaze.
