The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) has denied fire certificates to over 15 establishments, including guesthouses and hotels in Paharganj, Vasant Vihar and Dwarka, in recent weeks after finding the prescribed arrangements missing or non-functional, an official said on Friday.
Rejection letters issued by the DFS to the establishment show deficiencies ranging from inadequate staircase and corridor widths to non-functional pumps, hose reels, smoke-management systems, and missing exit signage.
At an inn in Mahipalpur Extension, inspected on August 31, officials found “fire check doors missing” and “water-based systems like fire pumps, hose reels, sprinklers non-functional.”
The DFS also found that the smoke-management system’s exhaust fans and a carbon monoxide detector were removed, and the submitted plan did not match the ground and second floors.
At a hotel on Vasant Kunj Road near Mahipalpur, inspected on August 21, the DFS recorded a corridor width of 1.50 metres against the required 1.80 metres. It also noted missing lift signage and an unsigned, unstamped building plan.
At an inn in Ghazipur, inspectors found one staircase of one metre against the requirement of two 1.50-metre staircases, along with missing fire extinguishers, first-aid hose reels, carbon monoxide detectors, a terrace pump, and a water tank.
{{/usCountry}}At an inn in Ghazipur, inspectors found one staircase of one metre against the requirement of two 1.50-metre staircases, along with missing fire extinguishers, first-aid hose reels, carbon monoxide detectors, a terrace pump, and a water tank.
{{/usCountry}}The DFS also denied fire clearance to the ITBP Chhawla Camp, Najafgarh, under the Union Home Ministry. The DFS found that earlier shortcomings had not been rectified and listed nine deficiencies, including non-functional pressurisation, smoke-management, public-address and hydrant systems. ITBP officials did not respond to queries.
The DFS also denied renewal of the certificate for the Delhi Armed Police Lines’ residential quarters in Sector 9, Dwarka, as during an inspection on August 12, officials found the six-metre internal road blocked at places, fire checks and hose reels non-functional, missing hoses, non-functional pumps, missing exit and lift signs, an empty overhead tank, faulty lift-car communication and a non-functional fireman’s grounding switch. The department asked authorities to rectify the deficiencies before the certificate can be considered. Delhi police officials did not respond to queries till the time of going to press.
The inspection comes in the wake of a couple of incidents in the Capital in recent months, including a fire at Flourish Stay in Hauz Rani, where at least 23 people, including 14 foreigners, were killed on June 3.