While hundreds of pandals have come up in the city, none is officially fire-resistant as they have not been issued the mandatory no-objection certificate from the state fire office.
Fire officials said they avoid issuing NOC, but take undertaking from Puja samitis for adhering to fire safety norms. However, even the undertakings have been taken only from 36 of the 320 pandals in Patna sadar area which have got licence from district administration.
Patna City fire officer Shyam Bihari Ram said undertakings have been taken from 150 Puja samitis in Patna City and 54 in Kankerbagh.
“We take undertaking from the Puja samitis for adhering to various fire safety norms, including use of fire-retardant material and availability of fire extinguishers and sand buckets in pandals. Besides, the undertaking also mentions that pandal is not very close to any overhead electric wire,” said Ram.
The Indian Standards Institution and National Building Code prescribe several norms to be followed to obtain clearance for temporary constructions like pandals. Such norms include maximum prescribed height of 40ft for the superstructure of the pandal, 12ft- wide entry and exit pathway, sand and water buckets and fire gear, including ISI-marked extinguisher, among others.
However, officials in the state fire services claimed that they avoid issuing NOC considering the fact that many pandals fail to adhere to the norms.
“Issuing NOC to pandals means that we certify that there would be no fire incident. We cannot give a certificate for it as one never knows about eventualities that might lead to fire,” said a senior official in state fire services.
Few big puja samitis, however, claimed to have initiated necessary measures for ensuring fire safety at puja pandals. “We have taken most of the prescribed fire safety measures keeping in mind the safety of people,” said Sanjeev Kumar Toni, president of Navyuvak Sangh Sri Durga Puja Samiti at Dak Bungalow crossing.
Official in state fire office said most of the big pandals take measures for prevention of fire like.
“It is the small puja pandals, which at times avoid certain prescribed fire safety measures,” the fire services official said.
Date: October 07, 2016