BMC’S template to keep you safe in emergencies

WHAT IS AN EVACUATION PLAN?

MUMBAI: Citizens will soon be able to create an evacuation plan for their residential buildings, with the help of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) disaster management department. The department, which oversees rescue operations in the city, is presently creating a template of evacuation measures for hospitals, commercial buildings, high-rises and residential societies. These templates can soon be downloaded from the BMC’S website.

As a part of this process, BMC recently completed a disaster management plan for 402 buildings in the city. According to officials, these 402 buildings house about 1,200 civic schools.

The department had started the process about six months ago, when they trained teachers, principals and other management staff to create evacuation plans for their respective schools.

“After several briefing sessions, meetings and training programmes, we asked the school staff themselves to prepare the plans. We are planning to take up planning for other structures in a phased manner. Templates will be put up on the website for citizens to base their plans on,” said a senior official from the BMC’S disaster management department.

During emergencies, an evacuation plan helps ensure that people find the safest and the most efficient route to safety. Fire officials often say that a lack of a plan delays rescue operations because people caught in the emergency are not aware of routes to safety.

Apart from creating a map, the BMC has also asked the During emergencies, an evacuation plan helps ensure that people find the safest and the most efficient route to safety. Fire officials often say that a lack of a plan delays rescue operations because people caught in the emergency are not aware of routes to safety. the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s

(BMC) disaster management department, which oversees rescue operations in the city, is presently creating a template of evacuation measures for hospitals, commercial buildings, high-rises and residential societies. These templates can soon be downloaded from the BMC’S website.

school staff to conduct regular drills to ensure implementation of this plan.

“They must ensure that the plan will be completely in place during an emergency. We will also undertake routine checks to make sure that regular drills are conducted,” the official said

A copy of the plan has also been sent to the schools respective police stations and fire departments for immedi ate reference at the time of an emergency.

Lately, keeping in mind the increasing population of the city, the civic body has been looking at citizen support to combat disasters. The Mumba fire brigade has started training people in combating emergen cies. The citizens will be counted as volunteers who can assist the short-staffed fire department in tackling the rising number of fires in the city.