MUMBAI: Safety guidelines clearly state that lifts, including the fire lift, in buildings should first be grounded if a blaze breaks out and power ought not to be switched off for the entire building. Yet, this is what appears was not done in the Lake Lucerne building at Chandivli, leading to the death of seven, who were trapped in a lift on Saturday night.

The Maharashtra Fire Services site lays down exhaustive dos and dont’s in case of a fire.

The Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, lays down provisions that stipulate a housing society’s fire safety obligations, liabilities and penalties for breaches. The 2009 fire safety rules lay down procedure for certificates after compliance of fire prevention and life safety measures in buildings.

"Rules alone don’t come in handy if fire drills are not carried out, awareness not spread and firefighting equipment and infrastructure not upgraded,’’ said lawyer, Rajiv Kumar.

Apart from minimum fire safety installations, the Act, under Section 45, requires every commercial, hotel, hospital and mixed-occupancy building higher than 30 metres or 10 floors, to have its own fire supervisor. How many buildings appoint such supervisors is the question. Kumar said, "Though the section doesn’t specify residential buildings, every tower, apart from relying on public utility for its fire safety must have a safety supervisor.’’

The fire at Chandivli, and the recent one at Kalbadevi, which claimed the lives of four firefighters, including Mumbai fire chief Sunil Nesarikar, along with other smaller blazes, highlight the importance of safety rules, including duties of the state and residents.

While road width or (eventually) adequate space within the building compound was not an issue on Saturday, builders and housing societies must remember that the law requires minimum six metres open space for fire engine access.

Narrow lanes or space, insufficient wide roads and lack of adequate fire-fighting equipment to secure the top of the tallest skyscrapers in the city, doesn’t bode well for residents, said several lawyers on Sunday.