NHRC notice to Delhi CS, Police Commissioner, Commissioner, NDMC over hotel fire

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports about one of the deadliest fire tragedies in the capital in recent years resulting in the death of 17 people at a five-storey hotel in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh on February 12,2019. Many of them died in their sleep, after an early morning blaze spread swiftly through AC ducts. The hotel owner had, apparently, carried out unauthorised construction/ modification in the building, after obtaining the clearance from the Fire Department.

The Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi, Commissioner of Police, Delhi, and the Commissioner, North Delhi Municipal Corporation, calling for a detailed report in the matter along with action taken against the errant officials along with relief and rehabilitation provided to the next of kin (NOKs) of the deceased and the injured persons.

The Commission also expects from the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi, to immediately form a committee of experts to look into the matter relating to violation of norms by the hotel owners/ shopkeepers and other individuals/ firms who are conducting commercial activities in the residential colonies and encouraging encroachment of public roads. The Committee should examine all the issues thoroughly and submit a report along with their suggestions to streamline these areas, making them safe and worth living for the citizens. The response is expected, within six weeks.

The Commission is of the opinion that it seems the authorities have not learnt any lessons from the tragic incidents occurred in the recent past; no one appears to be bothered about the rules/ norms to be followed by the building owners and local residents. This painful incident could have been avoided if the hotel management and the authorities concerned would have acted sincerely, it said.

The Commission has also observed that recently, several workers had died at a clothes ironing workshop in Karol Bagh area of Delhi after a steam boiler caught fire and the victims got trapped due to cloth piles blocking the entrance. Suo-motu cognizance of the tragic incident was taken by the Commission and a report was called for from the Commissioner of Police and the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi of Delhi which is yet to be received.

The Commission has observed that in both the incidents, the victims could not come out of the premises due to blocked fire exit. Both the incidents have occurred in the Karol Bagh area which has become highly congested due to commercialisation of buildings in the vicinity, in a reckless manner. These incidents raise several issues regarding working of the civic authorities in the National Capital as well as police authorities particularly, in the Karol Bagh and Paharganj areas where huge clusters of hotels have come up.

The Commission has also noticed that in the instant case, the fire tenders could not reach in time as there was no U-turn on the road for traffic and the vehicles had to drive all the way to Jhandewalan Chowk for a U-turn. The road was also blocked by vehicles parked on the road.

According to the media reports, two senior HPCL officials have also died in the fire as six company officials, who had come to attend the Petro-tech conference, were accommodated in the hotel. Out of panic some of the guests jumped from the hotel windows to save their lives. One IRS officer, who jumped out of a window, died in the hospital due to fracture and head injuries.

It is also mentioned in the news reports that the Fire Department had given a Safety Certificate to the hotel on December 28, 2017, which is valid for three years. The hotel owners have reportedly claimed that the “Arpit Palace Hotel”  was a guest house, which as per rules, cannot have an operational kitchen for cooking but the firemen found a fiberglass structure on the rooftop which could be a Bar or Restaurant, police is yet to investigate the matter, according to an NHRC release.