The major fire incident reported at Saya Zenith, a high-rise in Indirapuram, on Wednesday has made residents living in high rises in Noida raise their concern against defunct fire safety systems installed in their societies.
In one such case, Ankur Arora, a resident of Paramount Floraville, an upscale condominium in Noida’s Sector 137, has lodged a complaint with sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Dadri, against dysfunctional fire-fighting equipment installed in the society.
In his complaint, Arora has said that the fire-fighting equipment installed has been in a dysfunctional state for the past seven months. He also alleged that equipment was working till the time maintenance of the society was handled by the residents' body. But the scene changed soon after the builder was brought back to take care of the maintenance responsibilities seven months back.
The builder had allegedly taken over the upkeep work following a rift between two groups of residents within the society.
Ankur complained that the fire alarms have become non-functional as its sensors are not working. "Earlier whenever there was any smoke, alarms used to ring alerting on-duty guards. But now they can’t be alerted of any mishap as the alarms are out of order,” he said.
The complainant also wrote to the maintenance agency appointed by the developer of the society. But they have done nothing so far.
"What are they waiting for before resolving the issue?” Ankur asked.
Ankur said that he also called fire officials to raise his concerns. But he alleged that the fire officials told him that they would only respond or take action on complaint if they are directed by concerned SDM. Later, he complained to SDM, Dadri.
Ruling out his claim of complaining to fire officials, A K Singh, chief fire officer, Fire Service, Gautam Buddha Nagar, said that a prompt action will be taken if his office in Sector-2, Noida, receives a written complaint from any resident regarding defunct fire-fighting equipment.
"We assure that an officer from fire service will visit the society to examine whether the equipment is in order or not. If any fault is found, action will be taken,” Singh said.
