The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has called for a short-term tender for construction of fire escape staircase in the Annexure 3 building of its head office in the city. This is a key step towards securing No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire and Emergency Services Department.
The six-floor building that was constructed in 2010, which also housed the COVID-19 war room during the pandemic, does not have a building plan, besides fire safety measures. For the last 13 years, the building has been functioning without fire exit staircase. The building houses about 20-25 departments, including health, education, and road infrastructure. The building plan is mandatory for construction of any building, and the same has to be approved by the Town Planning Department of the BBMP.
The Hindu had reported about this on September 1. After the report, BBMP chief engineer B.S. Prahlad had ordered fire safety audit of buildings maintained by Multipurpose Engineering Department. However, the audit report has not yet been made public. In August this year, a fire broke out in Quality Control Department Laboratory in the office killing one and injuring eight. A report on the cause of incident pointed at error in testing method.
About three-and-a-half months later, the BBMP has now invited short-term tender to build a staircase along with signboards, fire exit doors, air circulator, and other necessary fire safety measures. The lowest bidder will be awarded the work. The last date to submit quotation is December 12 and quotation will be opened on December 13. The officer said apart from the staircase, the BBMP has already installed other measures like fire extinguishers.
