The Hindu Business Line : `Need to make safety norms mandatory'

Mr L. Mansingh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, addressing a seminar on `Standards for Safer World' on the occasion of World Standards Day in the Capital on Friday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Oct. 14

IN the backdrop of the recent earthquake, the Department of Consumer Affairs Secretary, Mr L. Mansingh, today said that there is a need to make safety standardisation norms mandatory, at least in those buildings that provide emergency services such as hospitals and fire stations.

"I personally feel that the critical infrastructure that provide emergency services should be able to withstand the natural disasters," said Mr Mansingh, while speaking at a conference organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

"The civil hospital at Bhuj which was rebuilt after the Kutch region was hit by an earthquake (during 2001) is probably the only earthquake-proof building in the country today," he said pointing out that the hospital building had collapsed when the earthquake had hit the region.

Later, the hospital was built with earthquake-proof features using "base isolation technology from New Zealand wherein spring cushions of rubber and steel are put below the building pillars". They can withstand earthquakes of the scale of eight on the Richter scale, said Mr Mansingh.

Mr Mansingh said the Department of Consumer Affairs would submit the National Building Code 2005 that specifies various safety standards for different buildings to the Home Ministry.

"The Home Ministry had asked BIS to submit the inputs, which we would submit today," he said.

He pointed out that particularly in the case of products and services that are frequently used by consumers with low levels of awareness, there is a need to make safety standards mandatory.

"For example, toys and kitchen-related items are used by children and many illiterate and semi-literate housewives. Unless safety standards are made mandatory, companies would not adhere to them in their effort to keep costs low," he said.

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