Get more fire tenders, add fire stations, LG Saxena tells Delhi Fire Service

Chairing a fire safety preparedness review meeting on Wednesday ahead of Diwali, the LG also directed the fire department to simplify the procedure for granting fire safety clearances.

Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has told the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) that it should set up 16 new fire stations across the city and add 130 fire tenders to its fleet in order to improve fire safety and response time to fire disasters, officials aware of the matter said.

LG VK Saxena also asked DFS to identify 50 vulnerable locations in the city and deploy fire tenders at these sites to improve the response time in case of an emergency. (HT Photo)

Currently, there are 64 fire stations with 220 fire tenders in Delhi.

Chairing a fire safety preparedness review meeting on Wednesday ahead of Diwali, the LG also directed the fire department to simplify the procedure for granting fire safety clearances (No Objection Certificates of NOCs) so that all kinds of business establishments and health facilities could easily procure the approvals, the officials added.

“For any regulation to succeed in achieving purpose it has to be made compliable, else it just became a tool for harassment of common people,” said Saxena, according to officials.

The LG also asked DFS to identify 50 vulnerable locations in the city and deploy fire tenders at these sites to improve the response time in case of an emergency. An official from LG’s office said that 12 fire prone locations will have to be identified before Diwali, which will be celebrated on October 24, and eventually a full list of 50 spots can be drawn.

“Fire tenders will be deployed at these locations and they will also be integrated with the ambulance services so as to ensure quick response in case of any disaster,” said the official.

The current average response time to the fire rescue calls varies from 8-16 minutes and a target has been set to bring it down to 2-3 minutes, added the official.

The review meeting was also attended by Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar. The LG also directed the fire department to expedite filling up of 1,112 vacant posts, equipping fire tenders with GPS trackers and conduct an audit of the deaths in fire incidents to assess the shortcomings in procedures.

Delhi Fire Services will also be roping in NGOs and experts for training for firemen of animal and bird rescue cases. LG house official said that the department has been asked to identify the land required for setting up the new fire stations while the work on construction of the fire service headquarter building at Connaught Place is to be expedited.

LG house official said that the move of a simplified fire NOC procedure is likely to benefit restaurants, eateries, nursing homes and several other smaller business units that fail to comply with the existing fire safety parameters only due to intricate and archiaic procedures and thus, in some cases, are forced to operate without the mandatory fire safety clearance. “This will also benefit the people at large by putting an end to harassment, unjustified delays and at the same time incentivise them to comply with the Fire Safety norms,” official said.

Saurabh Chhabda, secretary of Paharganj guest house owners’ association said that the compliance levels should not be same for small guest houses with 5-6 rooms as compared to large 5-star hotels. “It is impractical to ask for same compliance level for such small-scale guest houses. Small operators cannot afford expensive additions and civil work. Why are B&B operators not required to have same compliances? Moreover, there are many glitches in the online common portal for seeking fire NOC. Even in cases of name change, the entire process of seeking clearances and new licenses has to be repeated. The complicated process needs to be rationalized,” he added.

The city saw a major fire accident in North West Delhi’s Mundka earlier in May 2022, which claimed at least 27 lives. Several promises of undertaking remedial measure have been made by the city authorities but Delhi has witnessed repetition of this cycle several times over the last five years. The Gokalpuri slum fire, on 12 March 2022 claimed 7 lives while the Anaj Mandi factory fire case on 8th December 2019 led to 43 deaths. The tragedy was preceded by Arpit hotel fire case in Karol Bagh on 12 February 2019 where 17 people passed away during the accident.