30 hotels to be shut over fire safety

NEWDELHI: The Delhi government on Friday suspended the fire certificates of 30 hotels in Karol Bagh for lacking adequate safety mechanisms, effectively shutting them down for at least 15 days, in the wake of a major fire at Aprit Palace hotel in the locality in which 17 people were killed.

The action, initiated by state home minister Satyendar Jain, will further strengthen the Delhi Fire Service Rules, 2010, by amending it to make the violations more explicit and the regulations more stringent, according to Jain. On Friday, DFS, after conducting inspections in 45 hotels in the area over the past two days, has suspended fire NOCs of 30 buildings for 15 days, during which the owners will have to rectify the lapses and submit a compliance report. The fire NOC will be cancelled if the mandated safety checks are not found in place once the grace period ends.

“On 13 February, 23 hotels were inspected by the fire department. Of these, 13 were found violating fire safety norms. Next day, 17 hotels out of 22 were found to have violated rules. We have written to the North Delhi MC and police to take steps to seal them,” the minister said.