BMC disallows use of fixed glass facades on buildings

Mumbai

Alarmed by last week’s blaze at a commercial building in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), the BMC has decided to disallow the use of fixed glass sheets on facades.  Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte has asked the building proposal department and the fire brigade to draw up strict guidelines on facades and allow only those glass exteriors that can be dismantled. It has been found that firemen find it difficult to access the affected portion from outside if a building has a fixed glass facade.

All these changes have to be incorporated in the fire safety norms to be followed for a particular building. These will then be verified before the fire brigade issues a no-objection certificate to the building. For existing buildings with fixed glass exteriors, the guidelines will mention certain structural changes that have are mandatory. These include opening up a certain portion of the facade and replacing the existing fixed glass sheets with ones that can be dismantled.

Senior fire brigade officials say fixed glass exteriors hamper rescue operations during a blaze (see box). “Due to the accumulated smoke, there is little visibility inside and the heat level also increases. There is also a chance of people suffocating due to this,” said chief fire officer Suhas Joshi.

“The fire brigade will inspect buildings that already have full glass facades and suggest changes that have to be carried out to ensure the safety of such structures,” said additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar. The fire brigade also plans to make it compulsory for buildings with glass exteriors to have ‘emergency exit’ labels pasted on sheets that can be dismantled during an emergency. This will help save time as fire-fighters do not have search for access points.

Source: The Times of India, Mumbai