Ahmedabad: Fire NOC in place but violations go unchecked

The Delhi hotel fire that ended up killing 17 people have raised questions about fire safety norms being followed by commercial establishments. The hotel was found to be violating the norms despite having a No Objection Certificate (NOC).

In fact, the situation is no different in Ahmedabad. For, there is no provision in place for either the civic body or the AMC to check for violations of NOC norms. The two recent incidents of fire that was reported in the city had shown that in both cases the shops had NOC from the fire department but violated the same by illegally storing flammable materials in their basement.

What is scary is that neither the fire department nor the civic body has a mechanism in place to carry out surprise checks to nab such violators. In fact, once the NOC is given it is upto to commercial establishments whether to follow the norms or not. This coupled with lack of action when the fire incident happens means there is no deterrent at work.

It should be noted that as per the data with the Fire Department, there are 570 commercial establishments within the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) limits and 1,200 residential cum commercial establishments. All of these have the mandatory NOC from the fire department.

"The NOC has to be renewed annually. Every time it is renewed we go and check the place to ensure that everything is as per the norms. If we find any discrepancy say for example the fire exit is blocked we ensure that remedial measures are taken before the NOC is renewed," said MF Dastoor, Chief Fire Officer, Ahmedabad Fire & Emergency Service (AFES).

Dastoor, however, said there is no provision in the rules to carry out surprise checks once an NOC is given. "We don't carry out surprise checks as of now and it is of no use anyway because we don't have the power to take action. Even in case where a fire happens, it is within the AMC's purview to take action," said Dastoor.

Vijay Nehra, Municipal Commissione said that ideally such inspections should be carried out even after an NOC is given. "But the fire department is really short of staff and it is not possible for them to keep an eye on violations after NOC is given. Moreover, we also need t be vigilant as citizens and also ensure that we follow the rules and understand that rules are put in place for our safety," said Nehra. He added that they were in the process of filling up vacancies in the fire department.

What is even more interesting is that the commercial establishments are not even mandated to have a fire drill to train their tenants in case of fire.

A fire officer who attended one of the recent fires said that if there is no loss to life no one bothers to press for a complaint. "In absence of the same the violator goes scot-free. In fact, in the Shreeji Tower incident we had to convince the residents to file a complaint," said the officer.

A top builder on condition said that once an NOC is granted the fire department does not come into the picture until next renewal or in case of fire. "Some buildings may carry out a fire drill but it lasts for just a year or so. I have never seen the officials coming to check if any building has violated the norms in between NOCs," said the builder.

600 RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS HAVE NO FIRE NOC

As  per the data available with the AFES, 600 residential buildings in the city have not sought or renewed their No Objection Certificate from the  fire department. This means the fire safety is either not in place or  upto the mark. “Earlier in case of NOC we could ask the AMC to end their  water supply to force residential units to comply with the norms. But after a recent court order we cannot do that so essentially we can only  tell them,” said Dastoor. He said in some buildings the fire safety is  practically non existent.

Meeting with commercial establishmentsThe  fire department said it has carried out several round of meeting with commercial shop owners and builders to inform them about why fire safety  norms needed to be followed. This is what resulted in all the registered commercial establishments having a NOC from us

RECENT INCIDENTS

A fire in Shreeji Apartments in September 2018 near Himalaya Mall resulted in evacuation of over 100 families living there. The fire  started in the basement of a tyre shop. The shop had illegally cornered the basement using it to store tyres and taken over the basement. It had  an NOC in which the basement was not shown as part of the shop. Sixteen  children were trapped in a tuition class after a shop selling thermocol  caught fire in January this year. The shop had used the basement to illegally store flammable objects. It too had NOC.

14 INJURED IN LEAK

A  fire broke out in a house in Shahpur locality on Wednesday afternoon. The cause of fire was dure to gas leak in the house. Six fire engines were rushed to the spot. Around 14 people got burn injuries, including four firemen. As per the fire officials the incident took place at around 3:39pm near the Shahpur, Darwaja area. When the firemen got into the house to control the fire the ragging flames suddenly made it difficult for them to bring the fire under control. During the time of going to press the rescue operation was still on. 

HOW FIRE SAFE IS AHMEDABAD

• 2,303 – Number of fire incidents reported in city within AMC limits in 2017-2018 
   
• 96 – Number of people rescued in fire incidents
   
• 35 – Number of people who died in fire incidents
   
• 570 – Number of commercial units that have NOC from fire dept
   
• 1,220 – Commercial cum residential units in city that have fire dept
   
• 1,500 – Number of schools that were trained  in fire safety
   
• Rs 5000 – Cost of obtaining a NOC from fire department for a  building that is 30 mt tall