Arpit Hotel Fire a Grim Reminder of Rampant Flouting of Fire Safety Norms

New Delhi: The massive fire that killed 17 people, including a child, at Arpit Palace hotel in Karol Bagh on Tuesday, was a horrific reminder of how widely fire safety norms are being flouted in Delhi even after the Uphaar cinema hall fire that had left 59 people dead in June 1997.

Surprisingly, Arpit Palace was granted a No-Objection Certificate (or fire-safety certificate) despite it not complying with “all requisite fire-safety requirements.” As per reports, the fire broke out on the hotel’s first-floor, from where it spread upward quickly, with most people dying due to asphyxia. As per the Indian Express, the NOC or No-Objection Certificate was renewed on November 11, 2011, December 12, 2014 and December 28, 2017.

The NOCs stated that the fifth floor of the hotel was “closed with a brick wall.” However, the authorities told Indian Express that they were not aware of the dining space on the hotel terrace and were kept in “dark about this new engagement.”

After investigation, it was found that the hotel had permission to build four floors, but they had violated the norms by building six floors. Also, the back door of the hotel, that is, the fire exit, was locked when the incident took place. This shows that despite not following the regulatory norms, the hotel was granted fire-safety certificates.

Speaking to Newsclick, Kaptaan Singh, General Secretary, Delhi Fire Service Employee Welfare Association, said, “If you visit Karol Bagh, you will find that most hotels do not fall into line when it comes to fire-security check. The NOC is granted by the assistant division officer and officers of higher ranks and mostly, they are engaged in corruption.”

Newsclick found out that both in terms of preventing the fire as well as the rescuing process, there were lapses. It was also found that 101 – the emergency online number for fire emergency -- has been mostly privatised and is manned by untrained employees.

Speaking with Newsclick, Singh said, “70% of the emergency online number staff is untrained. We are against this privatisation and demand removal of these employees as they don’t understand the nitty-gritty of the occupation and are not even able to record the address properly. Tuesday’s fire and the response to it was also because of the wrong address given to the fire-fighters”. On Wednesday, the firefighters took time to figure out the address of the hotel and by the time they arrived, the fire had engulfed the entire building.

Ironically, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently countered the Opposition’s argument on rising unemployment by saying that the “hike of 50% in approval of hotels, meant more jobs were created in the tourism sector.” However, it has been found that at least 250 hotels in Delhi don’t follow fire-security norms. So, is employment being created at the cost of safety?

As per the Delhi Fire Services (DFS), out of 2,050 hotels in the city, 1,540 meet the fire-safety parameters. Incidentally, the Indian Express has reported that “most nursing homes are operating in complete violation of fire norms, as most of them do not have the mandatory exit path width of 2 meters.”

The incident has also raised serious questions about fire safety norms for buildings and hotels. In fact, granting NOCs when hotels don’t follow the norms shows the careless attitude of the authorities concerned. Delhi has a total of 61 fire stations.

Meanwhile, Singh also highlighted many problems during the rescue process. He said, “the department suffers from an acute staff crunch of 50% and the fire equipment are old and expired.” “At the time of rescue, work gets stalled mid-way because the equipment doesn’t work properly. Even the bridging apparatus, such as an oxygen cylinder, has expired. We risk our lives to save  people,” he added.

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The DFS also complained of shortage of fire tenders and special vehicles. Newsclick has already reported about factory fires, where neither fire safety norms nor the rescue norms are followed. On January 3, a fire broke out in a factory operating in a residential area in Basai Dharapur village near Sudharshan Park, Moti Nagar. Locals had then told Newsclick that “even after receiving multiple orders for sealing illegal factories, the factory owners did not budge.”