All high-rises to get notices on lift upkeep

All high-rises in New Delhi areas will soon get notices over maintenance of lifts.

All high-rises in New Delhi areas will soon get notices over maintenance of lifts.

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This step comes after the lift collapse at New Delhi House on Barakhamba Road on Tuesday afternoon. The notices will be issued from the deputy commissioner’s office of New Delhi district.

The owner/manager of New Delhi House and the regulating department responsible for the lifts will be served a show-cause notice on Wednesday.

“We reached the spot as soon as the incident took place; a show-cause notice will be issued on Wednesday. The labour department will be asked to submit their reply regarding the incident as they are supposed to carry out random checks to find out whether lifts are functioning properly,” said a senior Delhi government official.

According to sources, the labour department of the Delhi government has been finding it difficult to ensure the safety of lifts installed in high-rises as it has just 10 lift inspectors to check approximately 30,000 licensed lifts in the city.

“A licence has to be obtained to operate lifts in the city. Once the licence has been issued, they are to be checked; we have certified lift inspectors to carry out the inspection. However, due to shortage of staff, checking each and every lift is a difficult task,” added the official.

Officials said that as part of the structural and fire safety audit, high-rises in the New Delhi area will have to get their lifts inspected, which is crucial as a disaster management tool.

The Bombay Lifts Act, 1939, on which the Delhi Lifts Rules were formulated in 1942, does not empower the department to penalise defaulters directly.