Hindustan
Times: Gurgaon: Monday, April 08, 2013.
The state
government has directed Inspectorate Lifts and Elevators to make the names of
owners of companies and commercial establishments, which have not installed the
mandatory automatic rescue device (ARD) in their lifts, public.
An RTI reply
revealed that 426 lifts out of 4,495 lifts and elevators installed in malls and
offices of Gurgaon do not have ARDs, thereby putting the lives of thousands of
users at risk.
A rescue
device costs up to R5 lakh. If there is a power failure or technical glitch in
the lift or elevator system, ARD senses the problem and drives the lift to the
nearest floor and opens the car door so that occupants can safely walk out. If
the lift is not fitted with ARD, it stops in the middle of two floors. At times
it is difficult to open the doors.
Although the
state government had made installation of ARD mandatory in 2009, the office of
inspectorate failed to implement the order in its totality. For the last two
years, not even a single developer has been punished for flouting the law. The
penalty includes initial R50,000 and subsequently R1,000 per day till the
safety device is installed.
The state
government’s move came after a Gurgaon resident, Aseem Takyar, filed an
application in the office state information commission under RTI Act, seeking
details of lifts without the device.
A few years
ago, a 27-year-old executive working with a multinational IT firm in DLF
Cybercity City killed when his head got crushed in the office lift. He was
alone in the lift and wanted to reach his office on the 10th floor. The lift
was not fitted with ARD and the police had booked the senior maintenance
executive of the DLF and sent him to jail. It was after this incident that the
Haryana government had made ARD mandatory for lifts and escalators.
A number of
malls on MG Road and residential and office towers on Sohna and Golf Course
roads are yet to install the safety device in their lifts.
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