Goempkarponn desk
PANAJI: Stating that negligence of industries in keeping a check on its precautionary fire measures results in fire hazards, Director of Fire and Emergency Services Nitin Raikar said a thorough inquiry should be conducted into the Berger Becker fire incident to probe whether the incident has occurred due to short circuit or was it due to negligence of industry in taking proper precautionary measures.
Raikar said the Managing Director of Berger-Becker, Rajesh Mehrotra, in his statement, has mentioned the cause of the fire to be a short circuit.
“There is the possibility that the cause was mentioned as a short circuit to claim insurance and gain compensation. Since the incident so occurred involves health risk, it must be investigated in detail to learn the actual cause”, said Raikar.
Adding that many industries fail to take fire NOC, Raikar said that stringent action will be taken against those who do not possess fire department valid fire NOC.
“Fire department will keep a close watch to check whether the industries maintain proper house-keeping, signages or not. Conduction of mock drill after quarter to six months in coordination with the local fire station is a must for all the industries handling hazardous and highly inflammable chemicals”, he added.
Although the air quality index measured post-fire was reported to be non-toxic, Raikar informed the health advisory was immediately issued in the public interest as a precautionary measure. He added that the expert team from Goa Engineering College, along with Deccan, has tested the air quality. “The note produced by an expert team stated that the quality of air post-fire incident was non-toxic”.
It can be recalled the recent fire broke incident in the Berger Becker Coatings factory in Pilerne Industrial Estate forced to evacuate of around 200 people living in the vicinity of this plant to avoid ill effects on the health of residents.
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