Taking serious cognisance of cases of heritage buildings sustaining severe damage or being destroyed by fire, the Nainital district administration has formed a committee which will help towards facilitation the prevention of such fires in the future.
It is pertinent to mention here that recently, a fire at the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam office situated at Oak Park in Nainital had caused considerable damage to the building apart from destroying various official documents kept therein. The fire was believed to have been caused by a short circuit.
The fire at KMVN office building at Oak Park was not the first incident of a building catching fire in Nainital. In the past too, there has been major loss of property and documentation from fires in old and heritage buildings and other main buildings in Nainital. Even the Raj Bhawan building in Nainital has experienced a fire in the past.
Taking serious note of the risk of fires, the Nainital district magistrate Deepak Rawat has ordered the formation of a committee headed by the additional district magistrate (Administration) RD Paliwal.
The district magistrate said that in the first stage, this committee headed by the additional district magistrate, will conduct inspections of the major office buildings in Nainital. In addition to submitting a detailed report, the committee will also ensure that necessary measures are taken to minimise the fire risk in such buildings.
The executive engineer, electricity, mechanical, Jal Sansthan, chief fire safety officer and electricity inspector will be the members of the committee headed by the ADM.
The district magistrate further informed that the committee members will check the various office buildings in town. There should be no carelessness when it comes to ensuring electrical safety, he stressed. Effective implementation of safety standards relating to electricity should be ensured in all the office buildings, added the district magistrate.