Rs 1 crore project to make PMC building fireproof

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) headquarters, which witnessed a freak fire two months ago, is all set to become fire proof.u00a0The civic body has cleared decks for the Rs 1-crore project that includes installation of advanced fire detection and sensor systems in its main building and two parking lots.

The ambitious project has been hanging in balance for the past two years as the officials reportedly could not rope in a consultant to carry out feasibility survey of the project.u00a0Now that the civic body has appointed a consultant and is willing to invest more money on the project, fire could well be a thing of past soon the PMC premises.

The main building has two entrances -- one of which isu00a0on the Congress Bhavanu00a0Road and the other entrance located right behind on the Mahatma Phule statue on PMC Road.u00a0Both entrances have large parking lots where the project provides for automatic water sprinklers, underground water pipelines and civil work for other disaster management purposes.u00a0

Earlier, the PMC had allocated Rs 85 lakh for the project in the 2010-11 budget, but now the civic body plans to increase the amount to Rs 1 crore through a proposal, which will be tabled in the next year's budget.u00a0In October, the civic body appointed independent consultants from Peshwe and Associates. They are nowu00a0

assisting the civic body in chalking out a detailed fire safety plan.u00a0

According to PMC officials, at least four companies have bid for the contract, tenders for which were floated around two months ago.u00a0Executive engineer Rajesh Shinde from PMC's building department said the sprinklers in the parking lot would have open pipelines which will be connected to combustible bulbs.u00a0

"The bulbs are programmed to burst as the temperature increases during a fire and activate the sprinklers. Fire extinguishers and smoke detectors will be installed in all offices, rooms and passages.", he added.u00a0The issue of fire safety assumes significance in light of a recent blaze in one of the PMC parking lots.

u00a0

On September 20, a Maruti Omni suddenly caught fire around 4 pm because of a suspected fuel leakage.u00a0Though no one was injured in the incident, it prompted PMC officials to hurriedly implement the proposal.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!