Mumbai fire: HC to hear PIL on compliance of safety norms on Feb 7

Mumbai In light of the fire in a South Mumbai high rise on Sunday which left seven people dead, the Bombay high court on Monday granted an urgent hearing to public interest litigation seeking directions to the state government and the civic authorities to ensure that fire safety norms were scrupulously complied with in residential, commercial and public structures

Mumbai In light of the fire in a South Mumbai high rise on Sunday which left seven people dead, the Bombay high court on Monday granted an urgent hearing to public interest litigation seeking directions to the state government and the civic authorities to ensure that fire safety norms were scrupulously complied with in residential, commercial and public structures. The court has posted the PIL for hearing on February 7.

The bench was told that till 2018, when the PIL was filed, and thereafter, there have been many manmade disasters and a large number of people lost their lives, including those in the fire in the high-rise on Sunday. (ANI)

On Monday, advocate Aditya Pratap representing petitioner Abha Singh, mentioned the PIL for urgent hearing before the division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Makarand Karnik.

The bench was informed that while the state government had prepared the Draft Special Regulations for Building Vulnerable to Manmade Disasters through a notification on February 27, 2009, and the deputy director had processed the suggestions and objections thereafter, a final notification has not been issued.

The bench was told that till 2018, when the PIL was filed, and thereafter, there have been many manmade disasters and a large number of people lost their lives, including those in the fire in the high-rise on Sunday.

The bench was told that all these could have been avoided, had the court issued directions to the authorities to process the same. The court accepted the petitioner’s request for an urgent hearing. The PIL is expected to come up for hearing on February 7.