Large-scale illegal commercial activity in industrial sectors of Noida is leading to traffic chaos due to illegal parking and is a major obstacle for the fire department to reach the site of a blaze quickly, the UP Fire Department has said.
On April 19, a blaze in Sector 11 had killed six people.
“It is tough to conduct rescue or fire-dousing operations as the illegal commercial activities, especially offices, in industrial sectors invite illegal parking on roads. In the Sector 11 fire incident, the fire department faced same challenge,” Arvind Kumar, joint director, UP Fire Department told The Hindu .
State Minister of Industrial Development Satish Mahana said he has asked the Noida Authority to take action against commercial activities in industrial sectors.
Noida was developed in 1976 to encourage industrial activities. Starting 2000-01, subsequent governments focussed more on housing.
With the State’s concentration elsewhere, companies engaged in commercial activities shifted their offices to industrial sectors in order to evade heavy tax and charges.
This not only led to an infrastructural mess in industrial sectors, but also translated into heavy financial losses for the authority.
No power to prosecute
With the influx of illegal commercial activity in industrial sectors causing various problems, the Fire Department rues that it is not empowered to prosecute violators of safety regulation.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Fire Department is governed by the UP Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act.
Deputy Director of the U.P. Fire Department Aman Sharma told The Hindu that the Act doesn’t empower them “to prosecute an individual or a company for not adhering to safety standards. The department also doesn’t have enforcement team.”
“After giving the final No Objection Certificate for a building, the role of the department ends. If the department issues an NoC in 1990, then the department has no power to revisit the site in 2005 to check fire safety standards. The department also has no role in buildings below 15 meter height,” Mr. Sharma said.
Mr. Sharma, however, added that the department does have the right to issue a provisional NOC and a final NOC post completion of building.
“Before construction, the department issues a provisional NOC, in which the department explains what safety measures must be in place in the building, depending on plot size and activity,” Mr. Sharma said.
“After the construction is complete, the plot owner or alottee is supposed to submit an application with the concerned authority to seek a completion certificate. The Fire Department’s final NoC is a must for this. A team visits the building and check whether all safety measures advised in the provisional NOC are in place,” said Mr. Sharma.
