Organisers did not have clearance from fire dept

The Sunday evening tragedy, which claimed 16 lives and left over 40 injured, could have been averted had the local police and the civic body concerned followed norms before issuing permission to the organisers of the transgender meet.

The Sunday evening tragedy, which claimed 16 lives and left over 40 injured, could have been averted had the local police and the civic body concerned followed norms before issuing permission to the organisers of the transgender meet.

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Investigation into the matter has revealed that the organisers obtained permission for holding the function without a clearance from the fire department. The permission was granted to the organisers three months ago for a week by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).

“For obtaining permission, they had submitted an affidavit in which it was mentioned that they will obtain all necessary permissions from other concerned agencies as well,” said BK Sharma, deputy director DUSIB. Unfortunately, the DUSIB made no effort to check whether the organisers took other permissions or not.

It was sheer negligence on the part of the officers of the local police station too, who were completely unaware of the fact that a function was being organised without installation of requisite fire safety equipment.

While on one hand, the organisers violated the rules, the community centre where the function was taking place lacked in-built fire safety equipment. Meanwhile, acting swiftly in the matter, the northeast district police registered a case under sections of IPC and arrested a contractor and his electrician in connection to the incident.