Most buildings in the heart of the city do not have valid permits from fire department
High rises in the heart of Delhi are nothing less than ticking time bombs. If sources from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) are to be believed, the no-objection certificates (NOCs) for most of these buildings, which house thousands of government and corporate offices, have not been renewed for years. In fact, some of these buildings have Fire Department NOCs dating back to 1990s.
In addition, most of these buildings are in violation of one or the other fire safety norm, putting thousands of lives at stake.
Just last week, fire broke out at Connaught Place's Antriksh Bhawan twice. First the renowned revolving restaurant Parikrama caught fire, and then three days later, an office on the 11th floor erupted into flames. DNA probe revealed that the DFS had last issued an NOC to the high rise on April 20, 2005. In March last year, when the building authorities approached the department for renewal of NOC, a notice for shortcomings was issued to them.
Since then, no measures have been taken to remove these shortcomings. Similarly, Jeevan Prakash (LIC) building, where a fire broke out in April this year, was issued an NOC on January 15, 1990. The building was issued a notice of shortcomings by the DFS on June 6, 2016, sources revealed.
When queried, the Fire Department officials said: "These NOCs need to be renewed every three years. It is the responsibility of the owner but many have not even applied. After the application is submitted, we carry out a detailed survey and then only issue an NOC. When certain shortcomings are found, the department issues a notice to the authority, asking them to take appropriate measures," DFS Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said.
Garg further said that if required measures are not taken, even a small mishap can turn into a big disaster. Different aspects that need to be considered for fool-proof safety are access to the building, number of exits, their width and type, provision of lifts, refuge area, fire control room ion the building, and compartmentation.
"Apart from structural modifications in a building to make it safe and easy for emergency exits and evacuations, a building must also have smoke management system, automatic fire detection and alarm system, automatic sprinklers, internal hydrants, captive water storage for fire fighting, fire extinguishers, and first-aid hose reels," a senior officer said.
High-rise horrors
Antriksh Bhawan
NOC: April 20, 2005
Notice of shortcomings: March 17, 2016
Mercantile House
NOC: January 3, 1990
Notice of shortcomings: July 21, 2016
Ansal Bhawan
Fire Safety Certificate: November 27, 2013
Notice of shortcomings: December 30, 2016
Himalaya House
NOC: April 2, 2013
Notice of shortcomings: no renewal application
Jeevan Prakash (LIC)
NOC: January 15, 1990
Notice of shortcomings: June 6, 2016
Nirmal Tower
Notice of shortcomings: June 29, 2016
Jeevan Bharti
Notice of shortcomings: March 12, 2013
Statesmen House
Notice of shortcomings: April 7, 2017
ANALYSIS
Most high-rises in Connaught Place do not have a valid NOC from the Delhi Fire Services. The NOCs need to be renewed every three years, but some of these buildings have NOCs dating back to 1990.
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