DFS suspends building inspection for issuing fire safety certificates

New Delhi: Delhi Fire Services has suspended the inspection of buildings for issuing or renewing fire safety certificates till further orders due to rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the order issued on April 19, in pursuant to the directions issued by chief secretary, Delhi government, it is hereby ordered that inspection of buildings for issuing or renewing fire safety certificates shall remain suspended till further orders.

However, inspections on special or specific directions of the government or disaster management authorities shall continue, it added.

The national Capital has witnessed some major fire incidents in the recent past which claimed many lives.

On December 8, 2019, 43 people were killed when a massive fire ripped through a four-storey building housing illegal manufacturing units in north Delhi's congested Anaj Mandi area. Almost all the deceased were migrant labourers hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

On February 12, 2019, a major fire engulfed a hotel in central Delhi's congested Karol Bagh area, killing 17 people, including two people who jumped off the building in a desperate bid to save themselves.

The deceased included three Myanmar nationals, an IRS officer and two staffers of the hotel.