RAWALPINDI: The district administration has asked all high-rise building and commercial plaza owners to ensure fire safety equipment in their outlets and get fire safety certificates.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema told Dawn that a drive had been launched to ensure fire safety equipment in the commercial buildings and high-rise plazas to avoid any untoward incident.

He said Rescue 1122 had been asked to launch a crackdown against commercial building of more than 50-foot high whose owners had not installed fire safety equipment. He said the Civil Defence Department had been asked to check all commercial buildings, LPG manufacturers and fuel filling stations.

He said Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation and Rawalpindi Development Authority as well as the district council had been asked not to approve any commercial building which failed to mention emergency exit doors in their building plans.

DC says drive launched to check fire safety equipment in commercial buildings

District Officer Emergency Sibghatullah told Dawn that a survey was conducted in the district and found more than 150 high-rise buildings without safety equipment and emergency exits.

He said that the department had formed four teams in each tehsil. He said these teams had started the campaign in tehsils Rawalpindi, Gujar Khan and Taxila simultaneously. He said the department already issued notices to more than 150 high-rise buildings to install firefighting equipment.

He said according to the survey, approximately all commercial buildings especially in downtown Rawalpindi were not properly equipped with fire safety measures. He said under the survey, they checked whether or not the building owners had installed auto fire alarm system, sprinklers and internal fire hydrants and separate emergency stairs at 100 feet.

He said there was a problem in commercial buildings as these were not managed by one owner and multiple owners had separate shops and offices in the commercial buildings. He said that the market committee had been sensitised and asked to adopt fire safety measures to avoid any untoward situation. He said more than 80 building owners had submitted applications for fire safety certificates.

District Officer Civil Defence Talib Hussain said the markets at Raja Bazaar, City Saddar Road, Kashmiri Bazaar, Ganjmandi and adjoining main grain market and other bazaars were located in narrow streets and could be dangerous if they did not adopt fire safety measures.

He said owners whose multi-storey buildings were located in narrow bazaars had been asked to erect fire-isolated stairs and install sprinkler system in their premises.

He said that according to building bylaws, essential safety measures were basically required in commercial, industrial and public buildings to ensure the safety of occupants in the event of a fire or emergency. The layout plans of commercial buildings must have exit doors, fire hydrants, fire-isolated stairs, emergency lifts, mechanical ventilation and sprinkler system, smoke alarms, safety management system and the fire control centre.

He said the department would check all hotels and restaurants and issue challans to those who had not installed fire fighting systems.

About LPG, he said the Civil Defence had launched a grand operation against illegal business of decanting of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and sealed 126 illegal LPG agencies for not adopting fire safety measures in the last one week.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2024