Building owner, officials ignored fire safety norms

Following the fire tragedy in Sector 11, that killed six, the matter under complete scanner has showcased unacceptable revelations. Not only were the directors of the company that was engulfed in fire, but also some senior officials of Noida authority were found equally responsible for the accident.

It has been found that the officers of the concerned department in Noida, conducted no inspections of the building to make sure that it obeyed the building by-laws or not. Also, the owner of the company easily got the permission from the authority just by presenting few documents.

According to the recent reports, the officers did not visit the building premises to check the authentication of the documents.

Neither the completion certificate nor the building plan was validated by the authority. Whatever was present got easily passed.

This sheer negligence of the authority has been considered equally responsible for the death of six employees.

"We have looked into the matter and found that there was no inspection ever done by the officials of the authority before the fatal incident.

The company was given just two floors on the lease, based on the documents presented. We have mentioned these things in the report sent to the ministry" said Pramod Kumar Agarwal, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Noida Authority.

The negligence and the irresponsible behaviour of the officials in district authority came into light when the building was inspected after the incident. Uttar Pradesh Industrial Development minister, Satish Mahana, dug out the truth after he paid several visits to the charred building.

Mahana had asked the officers to present him with all the documents.

Also, he had asked for the fire NOC for which the authority remained blank faced.

They requested the minister to give them a couple of days' time.

Infuriated over the irresponsible response from the authority, the minister asked them to present a report of the incident immediately.

The fire department already blamed the negligence from the district authority over the fatal incident.

This was highlighted in the reports.

"Our department has sent a report on the incident as per orders of the minister. The incident could have been averted if the authority issued the occupancy certificate only after checking the fire safety mechanism and other building by-laws. The fire department had no role in issuing the OC (occupancy certificate) or the NOC," said a senior official from the fire department.

The Noida authority allegedly allowed operations in the building which neither had the necessary clearance from the fire department and nor did it obtain the occupancy certificate.

The same marked a violation of several building by-laws.

Those who survived the blaze said that if the fire safety mechanism was in place, the fire would have been put out before it grew bigger and gutted the building.