CP high-rise sealed for 2 weeks

A day after a major fire broke out at Himalaya House on Kasturba Gandhi Marg, the management has been served a show cause notice and told to put all fire safety measures in place immediately, Neelam Pandey reports.

A day after a major fire broke out at Himalaya House on Kasturba Gandhi Marg, the management has been served a show cause notice and told to put all fire safety measures in place immediately.

HT Image

The 12-storeyed building houses several offices and hundreds of people work in them.

According to fire officials, entry will be allowed from Wednesday only to ensure fire safety measures are put in place.

Sources said normal services cannot be resumed for at least 10 days.

According to the Delhi Fire Services, no activities apart from putting the safety measures in place can be carried out for at least two weeks and the building will remain sealed.

After two weeks, the building will be inspected by the fire department and depending upon the progress, it will be given a certificate to resume normal services.

“The building had a no-objection certificate. But we found while the equipment were present, they were not functioning. We have asked them to put them in order,” said AK Sharma, director, Delhi Fire Services.

If the management is unable to put the building in order in two weeks, it will remain sealed.

“Delhi Police have also sealed the building to carry out their investigation,” said a senior Delhi Fire Services officer.

According to sources, Himalaya House being an old construction, the overhead shafts could not prevent the smoke from not moving up. “A number of floors were affected,” added the official.

As the building is quite old, it is required to follow the old rules according to which just 12 minimum fire safety measures need to be in place. Installing new fire safety measures would require structural changes, which is not possible.