North Delhi civic body to investigate Karol Bagh hotel fire
The hotel had an illegal roof-top restaurant and there was no mention of any bar in the NOC.
A budget hotel in Delhi's busiest shopping hub, Karol Bagh area, turned into an inferno after a fire broke out in Hotel Arpit Palace around 4 am on Tuesday killing 17 people.
Out of the deceased, two people a security guard and an income tax officer died while they were trying to jump off the top-floor of the building.
More than two dozen fire tenders were deployed to rescue the people, however, the firefighters could only save 36 out of 53 people.
A case was registered under IPC Section 304/308 after Tuesday's incident which occurred due to a short circuit.
President of Delhi Hotel and Restaurants Owner Association, Sandip Khandelwal said that the fire tenders were late to reach the scene by 15-30 minutes as the area was barricaded for security purposes.
When India Today TV visited the Karol Bagh area we found that hundreds of guest houses have been converted into hotels illegally in the last few years.
With more than 250 hotels located in the vicinity, most of the hostels do not even follow fire safety norms.
Meanwhile, in a bid to find out why the incident 'actually' took place, India Today TV took note of some records of the incident and got access of two fire NOCs.
The first one, which was given to the hotel, was issued by letter F6/DFS/MS/GH/2017/SZ/1875 on 28/12/2017. The letter, however, clearly showed that the hotel was built before 2001.
The Fire NOC mentions that the premises were registered only for residential purposes but the ground-floor had a restaurant which meant it was being used for commercial purposes. The second NOC issued by Delhi Fire Service is for Cross Roads Bar and Restaurant, vide letter, F6/DFS/MS/EH/206/ND2/852 and was issued on 20/05/2016.
According to reports, the hotel had an illegal roof-top restaurant and there was no mention of any bar in the NOC.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, home minister Satyendra Jain, LG Anil Baijal and Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari visited the spot, where Kejriwal said that the hotel violated some regulations that led to the fire incident and 17 people died.
He has ordered a magisterial probe into the case and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each of the deceased.
North Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner Varsha Joshi has ordered a deputy commissioner-level probe into the case and the team has been asked to submit the report by Friday. The NDMC mayor claimed that the area is protected under Special Protection Act and the it is not illegal.
Inputs from Mail Today Bureau