By Akhilesh Satre, Director and Elevator Personality, Avinyatech Elevators
India’s skyline is changing with the vertical growth in infrastructure. From Mumbai and Pune to Delhi and Gurugram, to Bengaluru and Hyderabad, high-rise towers have become the economic embodiment of urban growth. Today’s infrastructure has it all, from aesthetics to engineering marvels to sustainability blended with innovation. It is an art to balance architectural designs with technology, liveability, and functionality. But the major challenge for developers, architects, and planning departments is ensuring safety compliance and the project cost. What is lacking in these future-ready structures is an adequate evacuation system during emergencies: Fire Evacuation Lift (also called as Fireman Evacuation Lift). The major question here is:
The Growing Challenge of High-Rise Fire Safety
For many years, India’s fire safety planning relied on staircases, sprinklers, alarms, aerial ladders, fire lifts, and refuge areas. Although these methods remain very important, evacuating people from higher floors, such as the 30th, 50th, 60th, and up to the 100th, is not practical. Elderly, infants, pregnant women, pets, persons with disabilities, and patients will have great difficulty evacuating ladders or staircases. Today’s multi-story high-rise structures need a more advanced system to ensure people’s safety.
Recognising the importance of effective evacuation systems in high-rise buildings, the Government of Maharashtra mandated the installation of Fire Evacuation Lifts in buildings measuring 70 meters and above in height. This requirement is aligned with provisions under the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR) and supported by fire and life safety guidelines under the National Building Code (NBC) of India.
What is a Fire Evacuation Lift?
Fire Evacuation Lifts are not Fire Lifts or passenger lifts. Fire Evacuation Lifts are designed for safer, faster evacuation during an emergency. Unlike other Fire Lifts, Fire Evacuation Lifts are built to function when everything else stops during fire emergencies. Alternatively, a fire evacuation lift shall be provided on every mid-landing of one of the enclosed staircases of the building, and the staircase shall be protected with a smoke check lobby by means of a fire resistance door/fire curtain or fire resistance glass having a 02-hour rating.
These lifts have been built to be:
• Fire-Resistant Shaft and Lobby
• Dual Operating Panel
• Fire Evacuation Lift car doors & landing doors shall have 02 hours of fire resistance & vision panel
• IoT System: sends automatic notifications to the nearest fire department, society members and the residents
• Battery backup for 30 mins
• Smoke Protection and Pressurisation
• Two-way communication systems
• All the electrical cables shall be fire-retardant with low smoke hazard, complying with the relevant B.I.S standards.
Countries such as the UK, Singapore, UAE and Australia are increasingly implementing the use of evacuation lifts as part of their high-rise safety strategies; now India is beginning to do the same.
Reasons Why Fire Evacuation Lifts Are Important for India’s Growing Cities
1. The Vertical Expansion of Cities in India.
With the home buyers’ demand and land requirement in urban cities, vertical development has become an essential solution to meet the demands for living and commercial spaces. Towers with 50 floors or even 70 floors are becoming common in metropolitan cities.
Though vertical development is growing rapidly, the vertical evacuation safety standards have not yet evolved across India.
2. Stair-Only Evacuation Has Limitations
Climbing to the 30th floor—or any of the highest floors of a building—using the staircase is exhausting, especially during fire emergencies. The staircases are often filled with smoke, making it difficult to breathe, and for firefighters, carrying out evacuations in such conditions becomes nearly impractical.
The guidelines of NBC have been established to ensure all buildings comply with the codes for smoke control, pressurisation of stairwells and areas of refuge and highlight that the challenges associated with the evacuation of high-rise buildings require solutions that include fire evacuation lifts.
Fire evacuation lifts would significantly enhance safety for people of all ages, including firefighters, pregnant women, infants, pets, and persons with disabilities. It will reduce the panic and evacuation bottlenecks during emergencies.
3. Time is Critical When Responding to an Emergency
In a case of a fire, there is no time to waste. Every second is essential in ensuring rescue operations occur promptly. Evacuation lifts in buildings will significantly help with:
• Rescuing people, saving lives
• Evacuating a person with a medical emergency.
• Getting firefighters access to upper levels. Making sure the evacuation is on time.
• Transportation of heavy equipment and injured people.
This type of efficiency can significantly affect the survival rate of occupants in high-rise buildings and damage control.
Transitioning From Compliance To Preparedness
Developers, architects, consultants, elevator manufacturers, and urban planners must take proactive safety measures to integrate:
• Smart Evacuation Systems
• Fire Evacuation Lift Systems
• Intelligent Building Monitoring Systems
• Emergency Communications Technologies
• Predictive Maintenance Systems
Fire safety must not just be a checkbox, but an integral part of the building’s operational intelligence.
The future of high-rise living will depend not just on architectural innovation, but on how intelligently buildings protect human life.