52 high-rises in Ghaziabad under lens for fire safety norms violation

District magistrate on Thursday directed officials to ensure strict compliance of fire-safety norms at high-rises, congested markets, slum clusters, and industrial units, among others.

Ghaziabad: Nearly 52 residential high-rises in the district are facing court cases for non-compliance with fire safety norms and the fire department has served notices to 139 others, of which about 80% are residential buildings, officials said on Friday.

Ghaziabad has around 450 high-rises, all of which are required to maintain fully functional firefighting systems, said officials.

Ghaziabad has around 450 high-rises, all of which are required to maintain fully functional firefighting systems, said officials.

The department’s official data shows a steady rise in fire incidents. The district recorded 921, 1,103, 1,068, 1,607, and 1,437 fire incidents in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively, while 580 cases have been recorded between January 1 and April 29 this year.

“The 52 residential high-rises failed to comply with the norms, however, nine have assured compliance. About 80% of 139 notices were served to residential high-rises.The buildings had either not renewed their NOCs or their fire-safety systems were not functional,” chief fire officer Rahul Pal told HT.

A massive fire erupted at Gaur Green Avenue on Wednesday, gutting eight flats and damaging others from the eighth to the 13th floors. Officials said the building’s firefighting systems were functional and updated, helping douse the fire.

District magistrate Ravinder Kumar Mandar on Thursday held a meeting with 17 departments and directed officials to ensure strict compliance of fire-safety norms at high-rises, congested markets, slum clusters, and industrial units, among others.

“Developers generally get fire NOCs to obtain completion certificates but face challenges during renewal. The RWAs/AOAs must ensure that firefighting systems are updated and fully functional,” said Alok Kumar, a founding member of the Federation of Association of Apartment Owners in Indirapuram.

Others said that those not complying with the norms must be held responsible for any incident.

Colonel TP Tyagi (retired), chairperson of Flat Owners’ Federation, Ghaziabad said, “It is important that hosepipes, hydrants and other equipments are fully functional. It is the responsibility of the developer/RWAs to ensure safety and security of residents.The agencies keep approving the development of high-rises, without adequate fire safety equipment or resources.”

The Ghaziabad Development Authority on Thursday approved ₹100 crore to procure two hydraulic platforms capable of reaching up to 30-32 storeyed buildings. “The platforms would take about a year to get inducted,” the CFO added.

Currently, the department has only one such platform that can reach up to 15-17 storeys, officials added.