The Odisha Fire Services teams conducted simultaneous inspection of various shopping malls, residential apartments, educational institutes, Kalyan Mandaps and hotels to check fire prevention and fire safety measures in Baleswar town on Friday.
The inspections were conducted by 13 different teams. Each team led by a senior officer checked the safety measures in four shopping malls, nine residential apartments, four educational institutes, three marriage halls and six hotels.
Chief fire officer Brajendra Das led the teams under the direction of Fire Services DG BK Sharma.
The inspections revealed that most of the buildings and occupancies did not have complete and comprehensive fire safety measures. In some places, fixed fire fighting installations were available.
“Besides the open spaces, corridors, escape routes etc were found to have been blocked in some buildings. Good housekeeping which plays a vital role in safety was not found . More so, most of the buildings did not have adequate signage to lead the occupants to the place of safety in case of any emergency,” said Das.
“Notices shall be issued to the defaulting malls to fulfil the shortcomings within a specified time period. In case of non compliance, further legal actions, including sealing of the premises, shall be initiated,” he said.