The Maharashtra government's Energy Department, in a circular, has said that all high-rise buildings above 70 metres (22 floors) should have fire evacuation lifts. This comes against the backdrop of several high-rises in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, catching fire last year.
The Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) had, in 2018, made this compulsory, but left open a window for case-to-case exemption. However, with this circular, a uniform rule will have to be followed in the entire state of Maharashtra. The Energy Department's circular has also clarified that this rule will apply retrospectively, and all high-rise buildings constructed from 2018 onwards will have to comply with the Maharashtra government circular.
What does the circular say?
The circular signed by DJ Khonde, Chief Electrical Inspector of Energy Department, Maharashtra, dated July 20, 2022, has stated that one of the key aspects of the fire evacuation strategy is to have a 'fire evacuation lift' on a compulsory basis for buildings having a height of 70 metres and above.
This is to ensure that during the fire evacuation process, the fire evacuation lift would collect the occupants from the highest floors first, shuttle them to exit level and return further to highest floor for evacuation.
The implementation of the circular shall be effective immediately from the date of issue for the upcoming fire evacuation lift installations.
What was the rule earlier?
Amid the increasing fire incidents of 2017 and 2018, the Mumbai Fire Brigade had issued a circular making it mandatory for high rises above 70 metres to install fire evacuation lifts.
However, developers in the past were able to dodge the order since the Mumbai Civic Body, known as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), had allowed other appliances that acted as alternatives to a fire evacuation lift, to be installed.
Hemant Parab, Chief Fire Officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, said, "Starting 2018, we are giving permissions only after having fire evacuation lifts for buildings taller than 70 metres. The exemption at the juncture was only given to the high rises that were already constructed. However, currently it is mandatory to have fire evacuation lifts above 70 metres. Going further we will give fire clearance to the high-rise only after they have complied with designs and specifications mandated by the state government for fire evacuation lifts."
Retrospective effect
Khonde told Moneycontrol that while this is an advisory now, a law will soon be put in place. “In Mumbai, it is already a requirement, and this advisory is next to be mandatory. Also, this will have retrospective effect as those buildings constructed or being constructed between 2018 and 2022 will have to have fire evacuation lift with specifications issued by us."
1,200 new high-rises will need to follow this rule
Deepak Monga, Head - Fire Evacuation, Spartan Engineering Industries, said, "In Mumbai, there already existed a rule, but there was a mechanism too by which developers could dodge installing fire evacuation lifts. With the Maharashtra government now making it mandatory, evacuation safety will become a priority. This will ensure that close to 1,000 upcoming high-rises will have to install fire evacuation lifts with the laid down specifications.”
The retrospective effect will see another 200 high-rises constructed in the recent past needing to accommodate these life-saving lifts, he added.
The fire safety and evacuation expert pointed out that there are no drastic design changes, and existing lift ducts can be isolated from other lifts and used for fire safety evacuation lifts. These lifts can be installed by alternate designs too, which will not entail heavy expense.
According to Monga, a fire evacuation lift costs Rs 80-90 lakh, which is a fraction of the Rs 200-700 crore spent on the construction of high-rises in Mumbai, Thane and other cities of Maharashtra.
Past incidents
In the recent past, several high rises in Mumbai have been hit by fires. In October 2021, a fire was reported in Avighna Park, a 60-floor building. One person died in the fire that broke out on the 19th floor.
As per MFB data, a total of 48,434 fire calls were made to the fire brigade between 2008 and 2018, including 1,568 calls from high-rise buildings. A total of 609 people lost their lives in the fires and five fire-fighters also died. According to the latest data, between November 2021 and April 2022, MFB conducted random inspections of 329 buildings and issued notices to 151 buildings for non-compliance with fire safety norms.
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