2 fires in a week, NDMC issues notice to Antriksh Bhawan

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has finally issued a notice to the Antriksh Bhawan in Connaught Place, after two incidents of fire were reported from the building within a week earlier this month.

The Council, which is the civic body for Lutyen's zone, issued the notice for violation of building by-laws.

While many buildings in the area do not have valid fire safety certificates, the Antriksh Bhawan incidents prompted the NDMC to pay attention to the issue again.

A senior NDMC official said: "After we received a Delhi Fire department complaint in the matter, we issued a notice to the building owners. They were running operations in the building without a fire safety certificate, which is mandatory for a functional building under the building by-laws set by the Council."

Meanwhile, after the incident, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) has been in the process of issuing show-cause notices to building owners for going against the safety norms. Notices have also been issued not having "adequate" fire fighting equipment.

According to Fire officials, they found major discrepancies while inspecting Antriksh Bhawan, located on the Kasturba Gandhi Marg. "The owners did not have an NOC from the department, which is a serious lapse, as it can endanger both human lives and property," a senior Fire official said.

The first fire broke out on the top floor of the building on May 3, in popular revolving restaurant Parikrama. The second incident was reported on May 10, on the 11 the floor that houses a stock brokerage office.