India City Requires Fire Evacuation Lifts in High Rises

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp. (BMC) in Mumbai, India, has made it mandatory to install fire evacuation lifts in high-rise buildings 70 m and higher, Realty Plus reports. In case of fire, a normal elevator cannot be used, but an evacuation elevator that can evacuate 12-15 people in 3 min. A fire evacuation lift is a special lift designed, per the Fire Lift Standards, and is to be fire resistant for at least 2 h with battery backup for half an hour. Equipped with modern technology, a vision panel sensor is installed in the lift and emergency numbers are loaded. The lift will send an alert if there is a fire to help start rescue operations. Also, people will be able to exit the building during a fire using the lift. The vision panel has a two-way system, and there is a trap door at the top in case someone gets stuck. The price of these lifts ranges from INR 50 lakh (US$60,414) to INR 1 crore (US$120,829). Buildings that do not install these lifts will not get a NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the fire brigade.