Outdated fire fighting tools put Vellore Collectorate at risk

The collector’s office was shifted from the historical Vellore fort to the present five-storey premises at Sathuvachary on the Chennai national highway in 1990. 

While the water hoses on reels was part of the construction itself, it was only in 2008 that the district administration installed fire extinguishers – in all, 55 manual, hand-held, dry powder, and sodium bi-carbonate models – on various floors and other strategic spots inside the premises as per mandatory fire safety guidelines. 

The fire extinguishers revealed that they were serviced and refilled on October 7, 2011. Though the date for the next refilling was October 6, 2012, they have been left unattended for nearly six years since then. One of them on the second floor of the main block was even spotted near the staff toilet. 

“The equipment’s potency to douse fire gets reduced when they are not serviced and refilled on time,” said industry experts. Similarly, the water hose situated in the corridor that links the main and adjacent blocks of the office has broken connections and taps. 

A representative of the Ranipet based private company which supplied the equipment said they had reminded the Public Words department officials about refilling the fire extinguishers but received no response. 

“It will cost about Rs 29,000 to refill all the 55 fire extinguishers on various floors in both blocks,” said the person. 

“No action has been taken despite regular and timely reminders,” said officials from other departments. 

When asked about the current status the equipment, district Collector SA Raman accepted that fire hoses attached to taps were broken, and that the present equipment would not be of much use in case of an emergency. The collector added that he would ask officials to check and take appropriate action. 

However, PWD officials were not available to comment.