Commercial building in Ghaziabad

A four-storey commercial complex, located in a residential locality in Kavi Nagar, was gutted on Wednesday morning. The building housed a grocery shop on the ground and a few restaurants on the upper floors, which were completely destroyed.

A four-storey commercial complex, located in a residential locality in the heart of Kavi Nagar, was gutted on Wednesday morning. The building housed a grocery shop on the ground and a few restaurants on the upper floors, which were completely destroyed in the fire suspected to have taken place due to a short circuit.

At least 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames which began around 8 am. Officials of the district fire department said that they will soon initiate a drive against buildings which do not have no objection certificates (NoC) for fire. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The incident took place at the C block market in Kavi Nagar. At least 10 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames which began around 8 am. Officials of the district fire department said that they will soon initiate a drive against buildings which do not have no objection certificates (NoC) for fire.

“Buildings with a height of up to 15 metre do not require NOCs. The building which caught fire was located in a residential area. It had four floors, including the one on the ground. We will check whether this particular building needed a fire NoC or not,” Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer, said.

“All floors were completely gutted and material stocked inside the building was also destroyed. Fire tenders doused the flames in an hour and no injury or loss of life was reported,” the fire officer added. The occupants of the building said that a spark erupted on Tuesday night from the electricity pole which supplies power to the building.

“We tried to douse the flames with fire extinguishers but since the fire was a raging blaze, the fire department was called,” he added. On February 18, the district administration had rolled out a list of 63 hotels and 78 banquet halls which had no fire NoC and had not complied with fire safety norms.

The administration had given these establishments a deadline of February 25, 2019, failing which sealing of premises was to be done. “The deadline has ended. We will now be assessing and carrying out a survey of the erring establishments and start sealing them in accordance with procedure,” Singh said.