Darjeeling district administration is checking the disaster preparedness of building

Siliguri, Dec. 14: All buildings in Siliguri which are structurally unsafe or lack proper safety tools will soon be asked to make necessary alterations and put in place equipment to withstand earthquakes and fight fires.

The Darjeeling district administration is checking the disaster preparedness of building as the Siliguri civic body continued with its drive to crack down on hospitals.

The authorities are carrying out a survey on all government and commercial buildings, which are frequented by a large number of people. The administration will also help traders carry out mock drills to tackle emergencies.

The survey will help compile a list of structures that do not have contingency plans and pose a threat to people because of anomalies in construction.

“After the tremor that rocked the region on September 18, we have been identifying such buildings. Now that the AMRI fire has claimed the lives of many, we will expedite the process and bring out the final list in a fortnight. Once the list is ready, notices will be served on the owners of such buildings, recommending appropriate changes to make the structures safe,” said Darjeeling district magistrate Saumitra Mohan.

He held a meeting here this afternoon with officials of different departments and representatives of trade bodies.

“We are primarily focusing on buildings where people assemble in large numbers. These include nursing homes, cinemas and shopping malls. Departments like fire services, PWD and health are carrying out the survey,” said Mohan.

At the meeting, representatives of business bodies like the Focin and the CII were asked to chalk out their own contingency plans for different markets in Siliguri.

“If large shops prepare blueprints to carry out rescue operations in case of accidents, they can help in the evacuation of people and bring down the extent of loss,” said the district magistrate. 

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“We are ready to assist them to conduct mock rescue drills for their employees who can act swiftly in emergency situations.”

The Siliguri Municipal Corporation, on the other hand, inspected five nursing homes here today to see if fire-fighting measures were in place. The inspections were carried out by a team led by Debsankar Saha, member, mayor-in-council (trade licence).

“Most of the clinics do not have any fire safety arrangements. There are no emergency exits, and basements which are meant for parking vehicles have been used for other purposes. We were surprised to see an LPG cylinder inside an operation theatre,” said Saha.

Even as the civic body was cracking whip on the errant nursing homes, the Siliguri District Hospital is functioning without basic fire-fighting tools. The hospital has just 20 fire extinguishers, which were put in place during the fortnight-long Citizen Centric Week last month.

“We installed around 20 fire extinguishers in the hospital in early November. Prior to that, there was no equipment to deal with a blaze at the hospital,” said Subir Bhowmik, the chief medical officer of health of Darjeeling.

“It is true that we have no other basic tools like fire alarms and sprinklers.”

The district hospital has 320 beds and caters for more than 700 patients a day in 10 outpatient departments.

After the AMRI tragedy, 37 of 350 staff members were given training in fire-fighting.

“The second batch will be trained in a day or two. We want all the nurses and the Group D staff to undergo the training,” the CMOH said.