Fire Safety Part VI: In only five years, just 5,700 fire certifications were granted

Over the last five years, the Ludhiana fire department has issued over 5,700 fire No Objection Certificates (NOCs). Compared to the operational commercial firms in the industrial center, the number of NOCs given is much lower.

The period of issuance for these NOCs was 2019–2023. According to experts, the 5,700 NOCs seem small when compared to the total number of businesses operating in the industrial area. Of the more than 4 lakh properties in the city, 1 lakh are commercial and industrial properties, for which the MC receives property taxes. This suggests that only around 2% of units have access to fire NOCs.

According to data obtained by RTI activist Rohit Sabharwal from the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC), 3,801 safety certifications were granted by the fire department to different business premises between January 3, 2019 and December 12, 2023.

As of December 26, 2023, 1,896 NOCs have been granted. There are no category headers in the data.

On the other hand, information on NOCs granted to various commercial entities according to categories may be found in the statistics of NOCs given between 2019 and 2022. Based on this information, 3,801 NOCs were given to different businesses between January 3, 2019 and December 9, 2022. Out of them, 1,541 fire NOCs were given to schools, then 1,141 to businesses, 525 to commercial buildings, 393 to medical facilities, 76 to wedding locations, 69 to godowns, 32 to retail centers, and 25 to coaching centers.

It has been discovered that the majority of the large hotels, shopping centers, and multiplexes constructed in the industrial city have obtained a fire safety certificate from the fire department and have complied with fire safety regulations. Because they much outnumber large businesses and lack a fire safety certification, small and medium-sized commercial enterprises are the ones who should be concerned. These kinds of places are flagrantly breaking the law and endangering the lives of their employees and customers.

According to sources, several of these medium-sized and smaller businesses do not have a fire department fire safety certification, even if they have fire extinguishers on site to handle any emergencies. Because they are sure the authorities won’t prosecute them, their owners are apathetic and “careless.” An officer from the fire department questions, “Why should they spend lakhs on changing the buildings to comply with fire regulations and installing fire safety equipment?”

There are hundreds of restaurants in the city, most of them are small to medium-sized eateries, but there are several huge ones as well. It is important to note that 99 percent of the eateries and restaurants in the city do not have a fire safety certificate. In an emergency, the majority of these eateries lack even fire exits.

According to an official with knowledge of the matter, most commercial buildings in the city, such as hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers, could not have fire safety certifications since their layouts don’t fulfill the standards needed to get a NOC.

Although having several fire extinguishers on their property may provide an outstanding visual display for certain large business enterprises in the city, it does not qualify them for the fire safety certification.

An MC official stated: “The MC authorities are least concerned to ensure the implementation of fire safety norms, despite the fact that several of the city’s prominent complexes that deal in garments (wholesale and retail), where thousands of people visit every day, have been operating for years without the fire NOC.”

Sandeep Rishi, the MC Commissioner, said that no study had previously been carried out to classify the commercial businesses in the city since it would have required a large number of employees. However, the MC would shortly be sending out recommendations to the owners to ensure they complied with fire regulations and obtained the NOC. He also said that the MC would follow the law if the infractions continued after this.

PSHRC had requested an MC report.

The Ludhiana Municipal Commissioner was contacted by the Punjab State Human Rights Commission to provide a report since the building records were not being kept up to date according to building type. The event occurred as a result of an activist named Rohit Sabharwal knocking on the PSHRC’s door to protest about fire authorities’ alleged failure to maintain a comprehensive database of the enterprises to whom fire NOCs were given.