Plagued by negligence and improper upkeep, incidents of lifts breaking off or stuck midway are common in Indian highrises. In several cases there have been reports of serious injuries or even fatalities due to lift-related accidents. Malfunctioning emergency buttons or poor phone network lead to scary situations in times of emergency inside a lift.
The situation is no different in Ahmedabad. According to a survey, in the last three years, about 61 per cent of the nearly 4,000 respondents have either faced an elevator safety issue or got stuck in one in the city.
Of these, 40 per cent had faced such issues twice, 19 per cent faced the trouble three to five times and around 2 per cent have been trapped in an elevator as many as nine times.
“Incidents of people getting stuck in lifts (and) free fall of lifts are common across the country, not just in residential societies, but in office buildings, shopping malls, factories and several other establishments,” the survey states.
Over the past couple of years, elevator makers in India have been lobbying for a nationwide uniform Lifts Act that lays down minimum safety standards and specifications for the vertical transportation industry, it further states.
According to experts, Ahmedabad, which has one of the highest number of elevators in the state, has only six lift inspectors, a worryingly inadequate number, given the density of residential and commercial high-rises in the city.
Regular maintenance is also a major concern, experts say. According to the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES), while the number of rescue calls has gone down, elevator issues in older buildings persist.
Mithun Mistry, additional chief fire officer, AFES, said that his team gets five to six calls a month – roughly one a week – for rescue or elevator breakdown.
“Compared to five years ago, the number of calls has significantly reduced, mainly due to the improved quality of new-age elevators and rescue systems. In general, the calls are related to lifts with collapsible doors wherein poor maintenance causes them to stop between floors or are regarding someone getting stuck while trying to open the lift while inside the cabin,” he said.
AFES officials said that breakdowns in commercial buildings are more compared to residential buildings as the passenger load is higher and because these lifts are also used to carry goods.
“Many of the older elevators are not serviced regularly, leading to frequent breakdowns. New elevators generally have an in-built mechanism to reach the nearest floor in case of a snag, which is why rescue calls are relatively low now,” said an official.
The survey says the country lacks mandatory standards for elevator maintenance, thereby leaving safety in the hands of society or property managers, lift owners, untrained staff in residential societies and third-party lift maintenance contractors.
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