Visakhapatnam: The fire prevention wing of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has issued notices to over 30 hotels and restaurants in the city for violating fire safety norms.This comes in the wake of a major fire accident in Delhi on February 12 that led to the death of 17 people.Speaking to TOI, DFO, fire prevention wing, J Mohan Rao said, “While most star hotels in the city have adequate fire safety equipment and some of their staff were also trained in fire fighting, some of the small hotels do not have sufficient fire safety equipment. Moreover a few hotels were equipped with fire fighting apparatus but they were not functional.” In the coming days more such notices will be issued on basis of inspections, Rao added.Sources said that some hotels and restaurants do not have fire alarms, adequate number of fire extinguishers, proper exits in case of fire mishap, basement sprinklers and other facilities. Moreover, in some establishments while fire equipment have been installed, they are either not maintained properly and hence do not function or the staff is not trained in using them.Calling themselves ‘snakes without fangs’, fire prevention wing officials said that as per norms they do not have any power to take action against a party in case it violates fire safety norms. They can only suggest officials concerned to take action against them, they added.The picture is equally dismal at a few hospitals and function halls, pointed out vigilance and enforcement department officials.They said while many hospitals and function halls are ill-equipped to fight fire accidents, some of them have not even bothered to respond to the notices issued by the fire officials. The officials revealed that they have issued notices to over 100 functions halls and 20 hospitals recently for violation of fire safety norms.“This is high time that staff of all major establishments are trained to use fire fighting equipment. Mock drills must be held. We are planning to inspect establishments to check the condition of the extinguishers,” said district fire officer BVS Ram Prakash.There are around 500 hotels and restaurants, including over 15 star hotels, in the city. As per norms any establishment, which has more than three stories, have to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the GVMC and should follow the fire safety norms as per the National Building Code of India.

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