Part VI of the fire safety code: Unapproved building plans and hotels in walled cities without fire certificates

Numerous hotels located inside the walled city lack safety certificates issued by the municipal corporation’s fire department. Nearly all of these hotels were built without permission and against construction restrictions.

Over the last ten years, the walled city region has seen the construction of 800 hotels.

The Fire Department is unable to provide a safety certificate to the proprietors of these hotels as they did not get the MC’s permission for the development design.

However, a recent investigation into the Savera Hotel case revealed that powerful hoteliers obtained fire safety certifications despite the building being shut down by the MC due to bylaw violations.

“All eight hundred hotels inside the walled city are in violation of the law, and not a single one is qualified to get a fire safety certificate. However, the proprietors of a few hotels in the walled city were able to get a fire safety certificate, according to an MC representative.

In the ten years after the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s 2012 construction prohibition, hundreds of illegitimate hotel structures have been built and made operational.

These hotels endanger lives by breaking fire safety regulations in addition to construction prohibitions. Numerous multi-story hotels are built on streets with a width of three feet. Residents would be at great danger in the event of a fire disaster or other emergency. A couple of these hotels were noted by the Local Bodies Department’s Chief Vigilance Officer in their report from last month, but the MC has not taken any action.

Ironically, since none of these hotels are legitimate, the MC did not profit financially from their development. Despite being sealed by MC, the fire safety certificate was administered by the owner of the Hotel Savera, which is now under construction. According to a source from the MC, the hotel owner obtained the fire certificate and other NOCs with the help of MC personnel.

Dilbagh Singh, the Additional Divisional Fire Officer, did not return calls for his opinion on the situation.