There would be no Industrial Exhibition this year if the Exhibition Society, which organises it, fails to secure No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the departments concerned, the Telangana High Court said on Tuesday.
The direction was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy. Issuing direction in a PIL plea filed by lawyer Khaja Aijazuddin seeking action against the Exhibition Society for the massive fire accident reported in January this year, the HC directed the government wings concerned to inform it if NOCs were issued to the Exhibition Society.
If the NOCs were issued, the departments like the Disaster Response and Fire Services, the police and the GHMC should inform the HC the grounds based on which they were issued, the order said. Though the Special Government Pleader Sharath Kumar presented a detailed affidavit filed by Hyderabad Police Commissioner on the matter, the bench observed that a complete map of the exhibition was to be filed by the government.
The map should have clear indications about the escape routes (which should be demarcated) and places for safe keeping of the people, the order said. All other safety measures proposed to be taken by different government department should also be explained, the bench said.
The plea was filed by the lawyer after the government permitted continuation of the exhibition within three days of major outbreak of fire inside the Numaish on January 30 this year. Property worth lakhs of rupees got gutted and goods and articles of several stalls were reduced to ashes after fire erupted when hundreds of visitors were inside the exhibition.
