Dhanbad fire: Jharkhand HC asks govt to conduct statewide fire safety audit

Fixing February 17 as the next date of hearing in the matter, the bench has directed the state’s urban development department to file a detailed affidavit on fire safety.

The Jharkhand high court, which had taken suo motu cognisance of the fire in a residential tower in Dhanbad on Tuesday evening that killed 14 people, on Thursday directed the state government to conduct a timebound fire safety audit in urban areas of the state and submit a detailed affidavit.

Jharkhand minister of health and family welfare Banna Gupta with Jharia MLA Purnima Niraj Singh meets an injured person of the Dhanbad fire incident, at a hospital on Thursday. (ANI)

The direction came from the division bench of acting chief justice Apresh Kumar Singh and justice Deepak Raushan.

Appearing on behalf of the state government, advocate general (AG) Rajiv Ranjan informed the bench that the Dhanbad district administration had formed two probe committees to establish the cause of the fire and the findings would be submitted before the court.

Fixing February 17 as the next date of hearing in the matter, the bench has directed the state’s urban development department to file a detailed affidavit on fire safety.

“The court has directed to conduct a fire safety audit across all municipal areas vis a vis building plans and fire safety norms and their compliance. It has to be done in a timebound manner, 3-4 months, and a detailed affidavit has to be submitted,” said AG Ranjan.