NECESSARY STEP
The J&K administration has taken an imperative step by ordering a fire safety audit of all government buildings in the UT because every year important records and property worth crores of rupees were lost to fire incidents, which in actuality are avoidable by taking simple precautions. There are plenty of fire incidents reported in J&K in which Government buildings were devastated therefore the administration’s move for holding fire audit should be welcomed by one and all, and not only this, the suggestions and directions given in the upcoming audit reports should also be implemented in letter and spirit. The order in this regard stated that the audit across the Union Territory will be carried out immediately while the concerned have been directed to take necessary measures with regard to the audit reports. The latter part of the order is of much significance because until the things will not be implemented there is no fun in carrying out such audits. As the responsibility of the fire audit of all government buildings has been given to the Director-General, Fire and Emergency Services, it is necessary that the aforesaid department also come up with a provision of ensuring that in case of a fire incidents minimum time should be taken by the fire tenders to reach the spot. It is high time that automatic fire alarms should be installed in all government buildings which have direct facility to raise alarm in the nearby Fire Station so that fire tenders may reach the site in minimum possible time. To take a cue, the Fire department should take help from any of the western countries wherein ‘reaching time’ of fire tenders is not more than three to five minutes. Until this mechanism is not developed fully, the chances of devastation will remain there as dousing the fire is the most critical part in fire fighting. It is strange that till now, the government buildings that were gutted in several fire incidents had no fire safety mechanism in place as several departments have not so far complied with the recommendations made in the Fire Safety Audit Reports furnished by the Fire and Emergency Services. A quick and sincere response to the new order issued in this regard is the key to safety.