Of the 1,007 establishments listed, only 220 had first-aid kits and 566 had fire extinguishers
Of the 1,007 establishments listed, only 220 had first-aid kits and 566 had fire extinguishers. She paid around Rs 12,000 a month.
Ekta Viveck Verma, previously associated with the Society for Cyberabad Security Council, took part in the PG audits and said fire safety emerged as a recurring concern. Hygiene, including cleanliness of the premises and food-safety practices, was another concern we frequently came across,” she said. M Harini from Bengaluru, who has lived in Hyderabad for two years, said she faced a fire incident and a theft while staying at a women’s PG near Miyapur.
Hyderabad: Most women’s paying guest (PG) accommodations and hostels surveyed under the Cyberabad Security Council’s ‘Safe Stay’ initiative lack basic emergency safeguards, with fire extinguishers and first-aid kits missing in a large number of establishments. Safety of these establishments has come under greater scrutiny following the recent collapse of a multi-storeyed building in Gachibowli in which two people were killed. The initiative measures safety across six areas, including surveillance, access control, fire-safety preparedness, first aid, security personnel and basic physical security. Taken together, the numbers point to a gap. Surveillance and access control are widely in place, but emergency preparedness is not. “Fire safety was a recurring concern during the audits. Many PGs had cramped rooms with limited space to move around, which becomes particularly dangerous during an emergency. For women living in these PGs, the gaps have had real consequences. Someone once reached through a lower-floor window and stole phones.