DLF's Cyber Green in Gurgaon catches fire

DLF's upcoming office complex Cyber Greens at Sector 25A in Gurgaon caught fire on Saturday noon. The fire caught on the ninth and tenth floors of the Towers´ blocks D and E next to the blocks A, B and C, which house the global brands Microsoft, Nokia and Canon, and Indian BPO major Daksh. While no causality has been reported so far, 13 fire tenders, including a hydraulic lift had to be pressed into service to contain the fire that broke out at the eighth floor and quickly spread to the ninth and tenth floors.

According to a senior DFS officer, the building caught fire due to the spark from welding work going on in the premises. While most laborers and workers managed to escape unhurt, two guards reportedly got stuck and were rescued later by the firemen. However, no one is reported to have suffered any injury.

Eyewitnesses suggest that the fire broke out on the eighth floor of the tower. IT consulting company Sapient was expected to shift some of its practices to the new tower sometime in February and work was still on to complete the building. Sapient officials however said that since none of the practices or staff had moved to this facility, there will be no disruption in its day to day operations.

Eight fire tenders from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) were pressed into service after five fire tenders from Gurgaon fire service failed to control the fire. In case of a high-rise fire, while the fire station needs to send seven fire tenders, including two hydraulic lifts, the Gurgaon fire station managed to send only five fire tenders. Had it not been for the seven fire tenders and one hydraulic lift from DFS, controlling the fire would have been difficult for the firemen.

Contradicting the DFS officers, Gurgaon fire officer AK Sharma said that DFS' help was sought as a precautionary measure. Sharma, however, said that had it not been for proper facilities at Cyber Greens and prompt action by the safety guards at the building, the fire would have been difficult to control and could have even spread to the adjoining block that has offices of Microsoft, Nokia, Canon and
Daksh.

Fire service sources also disclosed that while the highest building in Gurgaon is 89 meters, the Gurgaon Fire Service has only one manual 30-feet extension ladder and the decision for purchase of a 60-meter hydraulic lift/ turntable ladder is pending for over four years now. Experts suggest that the authorities should not have given permission to build such a high building without ensuring that it had adequate resources to handle fire in such high-rise building. 

Gurgaon presently has two fire stations and ten fire tenders, which according to sources in the Ministry of Civil Defense is inadequate to handle the fast growing business district. According to a Ministry of Civil Defense source, the city needs a minimum of five fire stations with seven fire tenders each to make the city fire safe. 

Experts also suggested that developers in Gurgaon should emulate the Hong Kong and Singapore model of intelligent buildings that can handle minor fire hazards on its own. Sources in the Ministry of Civil Defense also informed that Haryana does not strictly follow the National Building Code, which mandates that a building needs to get a fire safety certificate from the Fire Services Department before it can be given the completion certificate.

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