Thirty high-rise buildings in Ernakulam are yet to obtain the mandatory no-objection certificate from the Fire and Rescue Services Department since 2009, despite rules that make it compulsory for builders to obtain NOCs before the buildings are occupied.
According to official estimates, applications from promoters of 19 high-rise buildings are pending clearance for violation of the prescribed rules and regulations in 2011. The number of violations seems to be mounting every year. In 2010, eight applications were pending, while in 2009 it was only three.
Senior officials in the Fire and Rescue Service Department told The Hindu on Friday that there were two buildings in the city above 60 m that did not have clearance from the department. The application submitted by the owners of the first building near Kaloor was rejected as the building lacked a helipad.
Inspections by the Fire and Rescue Services personnel found several deficiencies in the mandatory fire safety and security arrangements at the second high-rise near Tripunithura. The director (Technical), Fire and Rescue Services Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, will soon file a report on whether the building can be given a no-objection certificate before it is occupied.
Sources said that many builders approached the department for no-objection certificates after the buyers had occupied their apartments.
Several alterations from the approved plan were also found among the 30 projects without no-objection certificate from the department, which also found that several high-rise buildings in the city lacked fire-fighting installations and space around the buildings for movement of fire-fighting vehicles.
Senior department officials urged the buyers to verify, before they occupied their apartments, whether the builder had received the mandatory clearances. They should ask the builder to produce the original of the NOC before they occupy the property, officials said.
