Visakhapatnam: The swanky function halls with their thematic decoration add charm to any event. But danger is lurking both inside and outside the walls of these function halls as about 90 per cent of them within the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation limits are being operated without any fire safety equipment, parking places or other stipulated safety measures.
Being ill-prepared to tackle a fire, they could pose a direct threat to the lives of the attendees of the bustling function halls. As per the official data, about 140 function halls, even including the government function halls, were found lacking safety norms. Recently, the officials seized a private function hall in MVP Colony of the city due to lack of parking place.
As per the regulations, the function halls having an area of more than 500 mt on each floor shall have a minimum of two staircases. At least one of them should be on external walls of the buildings and shall open directly to the exterior open space or to an open place of safety.
Adequate passageway and clearances required for fire-fighting vehicles to enter the premises should also be provided at the main entrance in a width of at least 4.5 met-res after leaving enough space for parking. They should also possess the emergency fire-fighting equipment.
Sources informed that even after showing all these measures in the original plan, the organisers alter the building plans as per their convenience and give the safety norms a slip. The road of the function hall shall not terminate in a dead end. But several function halls are located in the interior areas of the city with having very narrow roads, making it more prone to the mishaps.
When contacted, a GVMC official informed that they would first issue notices to the persons concerned and ask for taking up all the fire safety measures.
“After receiving complaints, we recently seized a function hall in the MVP Colony for not having enough parking place. We would await further action pending the response from the owners of other function halls,” he added.
