In a candid admission before the high court, Ahmedabad’s municipal commissioner, Mukesh Kumar, has expressed his inability to enforce fire safety norms in the city and demanded “more teeth” in the law to round up defaulters. The state government welcomed the gesture and the high court questioned the submission on lack of power. Kumar had appeared before a two-judge bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice A S Supehia. He assured the bench that the civic body will soon chalk out a plan and come up with a calendar to ensure that fire preventive protection systems are provided in high-rise buildings and schools within the local limits of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in a phased manner.
Kumar stated that the first priority will be given to commercial high-rise buildings, and where there is an immediate requirement of fire prevention and protection systems. Priorities will be set for various buildings depending on their commercial use, semi-commercial use, residential use and use for running schools. The AMC has submitted that in most cases, while obtaining building use (BU) permission, the fire safety measures and NOC (NOC) were obtained properly. However, after expiry of the licence period, fresh NOC and renewal of licences was not done.
Cases of non-renewal of NOCs can be considered to be non-compliance of orders passed by HC and not providing fire safety systems,” said senior advocate S V Shelat on behalf of AMC. After hearing the submission of AMC commissioner, and their counsel, the court directed AMC to file a detailed affidavit mentioning when and within what time the civic body will take its proposed action.
The court also wanted AMC to look at commercial, residential and school buildings. The high court had on September 9 directed the AMC commissioner to remain present as the court was not satisfied with the affidavit filed by him over the issue of fire safety in high-rise buildings and schools. The affidavit mentioned that in over 2,400 high-rise buildings in the city, 972 buildings do not have fire NOC.
