“The idea is to make sure that developers follow the fire-safety norms in a stringent manner. The fire-safety system can get corroded due to wear and tear. The idea is to make sure that the civic body and the state administration learns about the various high-rises in the city every six months,” said MV Deshmukh, Director-General, Fire, Urban Development Department.

According to fire officials, any building above the height of 15 metres qualifies as a high-rise. “All high-rises will have to regularly maintain their fire-fighting system and get a maintenance certificate on a regular basis,” said Joint Fire Officer, P D Kargupikkar. Offenders will be given three-hour intimation before an inspection is conducted. “Initially we will cut their electric supply and water supply. Also before taking any legal action we will give them reasonable time to fix the irregularities. This time frame will differ from case to case. For instance, if a building does not have a pump we will give them a period of 2-3 days to fix it up so on and so forth,” said Kargupikkar.

 The civic body will also come out strongly against buildings which do not comply with the fire-safety norms. “After the commencement of the Act, any new buildings which do not comply with the rules will not be given the occupational certificate (OC),” said Deshmukh. The fire brigade will also carry out a detailed inspection of all the parts of the construction before giving the OC.