The First Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Director, Fire and Rescue Services Department, Tamil Nadu, to conduct an audit of commercial buildings in T. Nagar to ascertain whether, and to what extent, they have violated fire safety laws. The High Court directed that the report be filed within three months, and fixed the next date of hearing as March 5, 2015.
Acting on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the HC, after issuing notices to the eleven respondents, and obtaining their counters to the PIL, at a hearing held on December 5, 2014, passed the orders.
Following the receipt of details, which were sourced through the Right to Information Act, that many commercial establishments on Ranganathan Street and Usman Road, T.Nagar, were not complying with fire-safety mechanisms, the T. Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association wrote to the Department of Fire and Rescue Services, Chennai Corporation and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to take appropriate action so that loss of lives could be prevented in the event of any untoward incident.
In its reply, the Fire and Rescue Department stated that it did not have the powers to take action against the establishments and the other two agencies — namely, the Chennai Corporation and the CMDA , which have the powers to take the owners to task.
The Association filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court. The PIL, among other things, sought suitable directions to the authorities.
