ISLAMABAD: Most of as many as 1500 multistoried buildings and plazas in the federal capital do not have any fire fighting system and the owners of buildings do not bother about managing some emergency exit.
On the other hand, the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) Building Control Section (BCS) shows no reluctance while issuing completion certificates merely after receiving an affidavit from the owners stating they installed a fire fighting system in their buildings, said the sources.
They said the owners of Saudi Pak Tower, Habib Bank Tower, Green Tower, SECP, Shaheed e Milat Secretariat, Estate Life, Islamabad Stock Exchange, OGDCL, UBL, ZTBL and many other multistoried buildings and plazas in Blue Area, Marakiz of all sectors and sub sectors in capital did not install any fire fighting system.
Huge buildings in developed countries could not be made operation until a fire fighting system – generally called IFDS – is installed in them, they underlined. They said no policy was ever adopted in Pakistan, even in the federal capital, to manage a fire fighting system in buildings, which could lead to loss of people, properties and goods in case of emergency.
As per the CDA policy, owners of buildings have to submit an affidavit stating he has installed a fire fighting system in his building. Usually owners submit fake affidavits and the CDA issues completion certificates without conducting any confirmation or survey to ensure that the owner has, really, installed the system, the sources said.
A CDA officer told Daily Times, on condition of anonymity, that there was a Springular system installed in Marriott Hotel according to which a network of pipes was spread in the building and heat sensors were fixed in those pipes. He said if the fire heat sensor burst, a bulb and water started spraying like a shower. He added that each Springuler point was enough to cover the fire up to distance of 10 feet but it was strange that system in Marriott Hotel did not work at all due to which it became a problem for the fire brigade in case of emergency.
He maintained that there were tow types of fire – type A and type A1 – adding that when mattress, woods and cloths caught fire, it was the type A while when petroleum products caught fire, it was called type A1. He said no proper arrangements were made in Pakistan to extinguish fire of type A1.
Source: Daily Times
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