In the wake of the fire incident at the Keshavrao Bhosle Theatre in Kolhapur, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has decided to conduct fire safety audits twice a year and properly maintain firefighting systems in buildings, hospitals, auditoriums, and cultural heritage structures with inspections twice a year.
The Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act requires building owners and occupants to implement and maintain fire prevention measures. Licensed private firms must inspect fire systems twice a year, and submit a report to the PMC fire department. However, the PMC wasn’t following the provisions of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act till the fire incident at the said Kolhapur theatre.
Manisha Shekatkarm, chief superintendent engineer, PMC electrical department, said, “Though we have installed firefighting systems in our offices, auditoriums, hospitals and schools, we do not inspect them twice a year as per the act. Therefore, we have decided to carry out regular inspection and checking of the firefighting systems with the help of government authorised agencies and submit reports to the fire department. We have completed the tender procedure of fire safety audit and maintenance of the firefighting system.”
All owners or occupants of buildings, including educational institutions, commercial complexes, malls, star hotels, and large commercial offices, are reminded of their responsibility to adhere to the fire prevention measures stipulated in section 3(1). It is imperative to maintain these in good working order at all times. Establishments must submit a certificate (form-B) from a designated agency to the chief fire officer twice a year, in January and July. Submissions should be made to the office of the chief fire officer, central fire centre, Mahatma Phule Peth, New Timber Market.
Failure to submit the required certificate (form-B) promptly may lead to accountability in the event of future accidents, as outlined in section 8(2) and rule 11(1) of the act. Buildings deemed unsafe from a fire safety perspective may face repercussions such as suspension of water and electricity supply.
PMC reassures theatre managers
Actors had previously complained about the problems in PMC-run theatres but the administration has now taken note of their demands. To understand the difficulties of artists, officials from the cultural, building, electricity and fire departments held a meeting on Tuesday after the Kolhapur fire incident. Theatre managers including Mohan Kulkarni, Sameer Hampi, Praveen Barve, Laxmikant Khabia, Shashikant Kothavle and Yogesh Supekar expressed their concerns. The officials assured them that these issues would be resolved quickly.
Rajesh Kamthe, administrative officer of the PMC cultural department, said that each theatre will be inspected, and meetings with managers and employees will be held to discuss solutions.
During the meeting, it was also announced that the Demokratar Doctor Annabhau Sathe Auditorium on Pune-Satara Road will be closed from September 1 to 30 for maintenance and repair work, including chair replacements and electrical upgrades.
Mohan Kulkarni, theatre manager, said, “The PMC administration recently held a meeting to address issues in theatres. Concerns included theatre management, cleanliness, inadequate facilities in makeup rooms, lack of water in toilets, play date cancellations for political events, absence of canteen facilities, and stage assistants during rehearsals. We were assured that these problems will be resolved within a month after each theatre is reviewed.”
