Himalaya House, which caught fire on Monday, is not the only building in Delhi sitting on a tinderbox; there are 800-odd high-rises that do not have fire-safety measures. According to Delhi Fire Services, a majority of these are old and have not renewed their fire-safety certificates for years. In the case of a major fire, there may be hundreds of casualties.

“There are a number of buildings that have not got their fire-safety certificates renewed and we have been telling them time and again to do it. We have put up a list of such buildings on our website and will start taking action soon,” said AK Sharma, director, Delhi Fire Services.

Sources said many such buildings were in Connaught Place and Karol Bagh.

Himalaya House has been served show-cause notice, asking the building authorities to ensure all the fire-safety equipment are functional.

The 12-storeyed building houses several offices with some of the floors occupied by organisations such as Max Life Insurance, State Bank of India, United India Insurance and Franklin Templeton.

According to fire officials, normal services in the building will not resume for at least 10 days, following which an inspection will be carried out by the fire department.