The Bombay high court may have issued a directive to improve lift inspection, but it has been found that the public works department still lacks manpower to survey all the lifts in the state.
“In the year 2010, when a public interest litigation was filed, there were 86,154 lifts in the state and only 16 electrical engineers to inspect them. Every year, on an average, there is an addition of 5,000 to 6,000 new lifts,” said Mohammed Afzal, the petitioner. The Bombay Lift Act states that it is mandatory for the PWD to inspect each lift twice a year, which means that there is a need for 1,72,308 inspections annually.
As per the high court’s directions, from 2012 onwards, the PWD is supposed to update its website on a quarterly basis and mention the total number of lifts and inspections undertaken in addition to the name of the buildings and which engineer inspected it.
According to Mr Afzal, although the PWD has started the process of uploading data related to lift inspections on its website, it has also thrown up a disturbing fact — the department still needs more inspectors to carry out mandatory work. The data on the portal shows that in the first quarter of 2012, 8,463 inspections were carried out, when there is need to carry out 43,077 inspections every quarter.
“Going by this figure, there is need for 33,852 inspections annually. Ideally, in each quarter, there is need for 43,077 inspections, which means that the PWD is still unable to meet
the targets,” added Mr Afzal.
Back in 2010, there were 16 electrical engineers, but eventually more were recruited. At present, there are 84 inspectors, but the PWD still has a huge shortfall. “If the PWD is unable to carry out the work themselves, they should outsource the work for the benefit of public safety,” he said.