Terming it a “painful” incident, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced compensation of ₹5 lakh each for the kin of the victims of the Karol Bagh fire. He also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

“It is an extremely painful incident and the cause of fire has not yet been ascertained. A magisterial probe is being set up, which should be able to determine the cause of fire and lapses which could have led to such an incident. If there were violations of building by-laws, that will also be under the ambit of this probe,” he said.

Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain, who also visited the site, said a preliminary inspection of the area showed that most of the buildings, including the hotel in question, had more than four floors in violation of the building regulations.

Mr. Jain said the Fire Services Department had been asked to inspect all such buildings in the area and take action against them.

Meanwhile, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Adesh Gupta said the civic body would also probe the incident to see if there were any lapses on the part of its staff.

“The Fire Department, which is under the Delhi government, is responsible for giving the NOC, based on which the corporation’s Public Health Department gave the hotel a health trade licence,” said Mr. Gupta.

According to the preliminary report by the Deputy Commissioner of the Karol Bagh Zone, the hotel had been given a licence by the Public Health Department on October 27, 2005, which has been renewed annually since. The licence was last renewed on May 25, 2018, after the hotel submitted the NOC from the Fire Service and is valid till March 31, this year, the report said.

AAP hits out at BJP

Meanwhile, the incident led to the Aam Aadmi Party hitting out against the BJP-ruled civic body over the alleged building violations.

“The hotel had five floors with fibre structure on the top floor. How did the municipal corporation give approval to such a building plan? Is there any accountability? Will Delhi ever see a commissioner of the municipal corporation or fire chief being suspended for such a huge loss of innocent lives,” asked AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.