High Court seeks fire safety status of high-rises

AHMEDABAD : Gujarat high court on Wednesday directed municipal commissioner Mukesh Kumar to state on an affidavit all details of fire safety measures taken in the city's high rise buildings and schools.

A bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice A S Supehia has sought the "entire data" from Ahmedabad's municipal commissioner on the number of high-rise buildings and schools in AMC limits, in how many schools and high-rise buildings fire safety measures are in place according to norms, and how many buildings still lack proper fire safety.

The HC asked, "What concrete steps are taken by AMC to see that fire safety measures are provided in concerned high-rise buildings and schools?" The court has sought reply before September 8.

This happened after repeated complaints by petitioner's advocate Amit Panchal that AMC has failed to perform its duty and takes no action against defaulters beyond issuing notices.

Panchal reiterated that the violation of norms continues despite various orders passed by the high court and the Supreme Court. He also highlighted an order passed by the HC in 1997, in which the court had appreciated AMC for issuing such notices and had directed the civic body to regularly follow up implementation of building bye-laws. However, said Panchal, despite 19 years having passed, AMC still continues to issue notices, but doesn't follow up.

Last month too, the HC had asked AMC to file an affidavit within two weeks explaining what actions had been taken after it had issued notices to 999 out of total 1,421 high-rise buildings for either want of fire NOCs or for not renewing their NOCs in time.

The high court is hearing a contempt of court petition filed by petitioner Prakash Nambiar for not implementing the law after enactment of the Fire Safety Act in 2013. It was also submitted that AMC does not act against violators of fire safety norms despite various directions issued by court.


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