New Delhi: Delhi Fire Services have advised revellers going to pubs and clubs to carefully check escape routes, as fewer exit routes is one of the main reasons for the high number of causalities in case of fires.
Friday's inferno at Kamla Mills in Mumbai claimed more than 20 people and left many injured.
As far as Delhi is concerned, DFS is on high alert for the New Year.
Talking to Millennium Post, Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said that lack of adequate entry and exit points is one of the reason for the high number of causalities in pubs.
"In most pubs, there is single entry and exit route. If a fire breaks out, it becomes tough for people to escape," said Garg.
Garg further enumerated dim lighting and artificial smoke machines as some other reasons that lead to high casualties during fire in clubs and pubs.
"Sometimes, people are also under the influence of liquor, due to which they cannot sense fire. Artificial smoke in pubs is another reason, as if a fire breaks out in a pub, people will think it is artificial smoke," said the senior firefighter.
When asked how many restaurants in the city have no objection certificates (NOC), a DFS official stated that only around 400 restaurants have the requisite NOC.
The official further said that those restaurants having a seating capacity of fewer than 50 persons will not require NOCs. and many restaurants use this as an excuse to avoid getting the NOC.
DFS officials further said they want to make sure if a person goes to a pub, he or she should make sure what and how many escape routes are available.
"Before entering any pub, for their own safety, people should ask the pub owners whether they have the NOC and if not, people must tell them to get the NOC for overall safety and security," said a fire official.
Throughout 2017, DFS has remained busy as they received more than 23,000 different accident-related calls.
Data accessed by Millennium Post stated that till October 23 this year, DFS has received as many as 23,417 distress calls.
These included incidents likes fire, falling into sewers, road accidents, drowning, building collapse etc.
In 2016, the number of calls received were 31,304.