Elaborate measures have been taken by the Fire Services Department to prevent mishaps in the city during the festive days of Durga Puja.
The Fire and Emergency Services Department has urged the puja organisers to follow fire prevention norms to ensure a safe puja. The Fire and Emergency Services Department would keep a tight vigil to ensure adequate fire safety measures in pandals.
There would be no partiality in maintaining vigilance. So there is no question of being soft on the big pujas or harsh on smaller pujas. The message is to ensure a safe puja.
The guidelines include fire retardant solutions on materials used in pandal decoration, use of authorized ISI marked cables and wires, adequate distance between metre box and puja pandal, fire alarm system, CCTV, small fire tending machines installed at various places and adequate supply of water.
There are 1780 puja committees under their ambit. Like every year, the Fire and Emergency Services Department give the best puja awards to those committees who would follow the fire safety norms and indulge in best practices.
There will be around 13 fire outposts and call centres to manage the city and prevent untoward incidents. The puja committees have been asked to train volunteers in handling emergency situations and deploy them inside and outside the pandals. Medical services and toilet facilities for ladies are some of the other criteria to be fulfilled.