Telangana high court asks for plan of action on fire safety during Numaish

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the district collector of Hyderabad and the fire safety officer to place before it the plan of action drawn by them for the ensuing Numaish at Exhibition Grounds, which will commence from January 2020.

The court had in mind the fire which occurred early last year and directed the collector to reveal his plan of action by November 12.

A division bench of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy heard the PIL filed by advocate Khaja Aijazuddin seeking direction to prosecute the president of the Exhibition Society, Nampally, as he has not taken requisite steps to prevent another fire.

The fire last year had resulted in stall holders losing material worth crores of rupees. Later it came to light that the Numaish was held without obtaining an NOC from the fire department.

The petitioner also sought action against the fire department and district fire officer of Hyderabad for allowing the society to run the exhibition without taking permission.

The bench made it clear that if the exhibition was to be held in future, it must be with all safety measures and precautions in place.

The court wanted details of the action plan from the collector, such as how the fire brigade vehicle will reach the spot and deal with a fire, arrangements made for entrance and exit of visitors in case of a mishap or a stampede, and so on.