Now Reading: Most women’s PGs in Hyderabad lack basic fire safety gear
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Most women’s PGs in Hyderabad lack basic fire safety gear
A survey of 1,007 women's paying guest (PG) accommodations and hostels under the Cyberabad Security Council's Safe Stay initiative found that only 220 had first-aid kits and just 566 had fire extinguishers.…
A survey of 1,007 women's paying guest (PG) accommodations and hostels under the Cyberabad Security Council's Safe Stay initiative found that only 220 had first-aid kits and just 566 had fire extinguishers. The audit covered areas including Raidurgam, Kukatpally and Miyapur, and assessed six safety parameters. Surveillance and access control were widely in place, with 960 establishments having CCTV cameras and 815 verifying residents' ID proofs, but emergency preparedness lagged sharply.
The focus on safety follows a building collapse in Gachibowli that killed two people. Residents reported cramped rooms, hygiene problems, and thefts, with monthly rents ranging from Rs 12,000 to Rs 17,000. A former auditor of the Cyberabad Security Council said fire safety was a recurring concern during inspections. The council's data shows 578 PGs had security personnel and 567 had a five-foot compound wall.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Hyderabad building collapse that killed two people in Gachibowli refocused attention on safety standards in unregulated paying guest (PG) accommodations, which fall outside the formal housing or hostel licensing frameworks. Under Telangana's 2018 TS b-PASS Act, buildings above a certain height need fire NOCs, but enforcement across thousands of small PG properties is sporadic because they are often in residential zones where commercial inspection is rare. The Cyberabad police's Safe Stay audit covers only listed establishments, meaning the 1,007 surveyed may represent the better-monitored ones, not the unlisted majority. The next test is whether the Cyberabad Security Council moves from audit to enforcement, which would require the state government to classify PGs as a separate commercial category with mandated fire and health inspections. Without that, the six-area scorecard remains a voluntary checklist and rents of Rs 12,000-17,000 per month will continue to buy CCTV but not a fire extinguisher.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
