Allahabad: The major blaze at a building housing a garment shop in Sulemsarai locality in which three women of a family were killed on Monday, has come as an eye-opener for the police and fire department as well as owners of commercial establishments in the city.Officials said most of the shops in prime localities like Katra, Chowk, Sulemsaraia and Ghantaghar lack advanced fire-fighting arrangements.At Sulemsarai, the fire not only gutted property worth lakhs but also indicated that there should be no loose wiring or power connection as electrical short-circuit is suspected behind the incident. "Through probe would ascertain the exact cause of fire, short-circuit seems to be the culprit," said a fire official.Chief fire officer (CFO) R S Mishra said, " A recent survey conducted by the department has revealed that more than 73% shops in the city neither have adequate fire-fighting arrangements nor the people know about the steps that should be taken in case of a fire."He added, "We have been regularly advising people to install advanced fire-fighting arrangements, especially a well-planned escape route.""As per rules, commercial shops on ground floor plus one story building, where the total of all floor area does not exceed 500 square metres and is less than 15 meters in height, must have two fire extinguishers, first aid hose reel, terrace tank and terrace pump. The arrangements should be accordingly enhanced if the size and shape of a commercial shop-plus one- or two-storied building is more."A fire officials said it's a starling fact that traders having shop-cum-residential buildings are not aware about fire safety plans and most of such shops have only one staircase to reach the upper floors."There should be at least two staircases for stepping up or down in every building, so that one could be turned into an escape route in case of a fire," said Mishra. The availability of fire extinguishers should be ensured all the times," he added.A report of the department has revealed electrical short-circuit as the prime reason behind most of the fires in commercial establishments, including shops. "As a result, shopkeepers and owners are being asked to check electric wiring from time to time and ensure that there are no loose electrical wires or fittings," Mishra informed TOI.A fire officials said that major irregularities were detected some two months back when three major commercial establishments were checked by the department. Apart from absence of first-aid hose and fire extinguishers, there was no facility of fire alarm and automatic fire sprinkler in the basement of the old buildings.Similarly, the owners had also not tested functioning of fire extinguishers for long despite advises and communications. Some multi-storied buildings, despite having fire hydrants, had no availability of water. The automatic fire sprinkling systems installed n basements were also not working.

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