Delhi govt considering lowering building height norm to strengthen fire safety measures

Delhi govt considering lowering building height norm to strengthen fire safety measures

New Delhi, The Delhi government is considering revising building height limits related to the requirement of fire NOC in order to strengthen safety norms in view of the recent accidents that claimed several lives in the city, officials said.

Delhi govt considering lowering building height norm to strengthen fire safety measures

According to the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission guidelines, power discoms can provide electricity connections to 17.5-metre-high buildings with stilt parking and 15-metre-high stilt-less buildings without seeking fire safety no objection certificates in the residential category.

Officials said that more than 95 per cent residential buildings in the national capital bypass fire safety measures because of this guideline.

Power Minister Ashish Sood said that the government is reviewing the building height norm to ensure that tighter fire safety norms are mandatorily followed.

Majority of residential buildings in Delhi do not have to take the fire NOC even though their layout, structure and growing use of electrical appliances like air conditioners expose them to risks of accidental fires, he said.

"We will try to make sure that the residential buildings lower than 17 metres also have to ensure proper fire safety measures," added the power minister.

Officials said that the discoms have often reported several instances where applicants for electricity connections do not agree with the building height measurement by their officials during field inspection process.

The Unified Building Bye-laws stipulate that the vertical height of the buildings with flat roofs is measured from the highest surrounding road or ground level up to the top of the structural slab.

Structures like roof tanks with support up to 1.8 metres, ventilating apparatus, air conditioning equipment and lift machine room, staircase mumty with height up to 3 metres, solar panels fixed on terrace, screen wall up to 1.8 metres, chimneys and parapet up to 1.5 metres are not included in the height of the buildings.

In a period of just over a month, fire accidents involving residential buildings in Palam and Vivek Vihar areas of the city claimed 18 lives.

Fire in the Vivek Vihar building was caused by a blast in an air conditioner unit while the accident in Palam was triggered allegedly by an electrical short circuit.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.