SC panel wants action against norm violators
scene at the hotel before the fire engulfed it. Officers said it would help police understand what led to the blaze and point out violations by the hotel staff.
DCP Deo said, “This has never been done before. We have roped in an expert agency for assistance. This will give us a 3D map of the hotel on which we can locate from where the fire started and how it spread through the building.”
During the early hours on Tuesday, a suspected short-circuit in the air conditioner installed inside a room on the first floor sparked a fire that spread across five floors of Hotel Arpit Palace, trapping majority of the 60 guests inside their rooms. While at least 30 were rescued by firefighters, 17 suc- cumbed to the burns or asphyxiation. A woman from Myanmar, an IRS officer and a cook at the hotel jumped off the building to escape. But only the Myanmar tourist survived.
The probe of the incident was transferred to the Delhi Police’s crime branch the same night.
Investigators have found that a number of rules were flouted by the hotel staff. An officer said they have found that 60 people were staying in the hotel at the time of incident, however, many had not made entries into the visitors register.
“It has also been spotted that the wiring in the hotel were old and not maintained. The power load was way beyond the capacity and it could have possibly led to the short circuit. However, since the AC did not have heating option, police are checking if the guests in that room switched it on or not,” the officer said.
He added that the forensics teams have not found any flammable material or explosive which prima facie suggests that there was no sabotage behind the fire. NEW DELHI: The Supreme Courtappointed monitoring committee on Thursday took stock of the inspection of establishments in Karol Bagh where a fire in Hotel Arpit Palace killed 17 people two days ago.
The three-member committee had on Wednesday asked North Delhi Municipal Corporation officials to inspect kitchens and basements in the neighbourhood area and check if they are flouting civic norms.
“We held a meeting with the deputy commissioner of the zone and asked them to take action against kitchens running from basements and hotels running without health licences,” said a member of the committee who did not wish to be quoted.
The member said even if the area is protected under the Special Provisions Act, the civic body could take action against establishments without valid health licences and for illegal parking.
Monitoring committee member K J Rao had inspected the area a day before and had found “rampant violations.” “The enforcement agencies have been using the act an excuse for not taking any action in the area. The state of public parking is so poor that in case of an emergency during business hours, services such as ambulances and fire tenders would not be able to enter the area in time,” he said.
The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act 2017 protects special areas, slums and unauthorised colonies from punitive action till 2020, as the act was extended another three years.