The Delhi government on Friday said the fire safety licences of 30 hotels in Central Delhi’s Karol Bagh have been cancelled after they were found flouting norms.
Delhi Home Minister said the action was taken after a special drive to check fire safety violations in hotels in the area was carried out by the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) for over two days.
This comes after a massive fire broke out at Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh, claiming 17 lives on Tuesday.
As many as 45 hotels operating from the area had been inspected by DFS officials over the last two days, said Satyendra Jain.
The fire department during their inspection on Wednesday found that 13 out of 23 hotels were violating fire safety norms. The following day, 17 hotels out of 22 were found to be violating fire safety rules.
Thirty of them were found to be flouting fire safety norms in one way or another leading to the cancellation of their fire safety certification, he said.
Mr. Jain added that the said drive, to identify errant hotels across the Capital and take action against them, would intensify and continue to prevent the recurrence of similar fire incidents. “We have written to the municipal corporation and the police to take further action and seal the erring establishments,” Mr. Jain said.
In its report the DFS stated that the hotel management in the case of the Hotel Arpit Palace tragedy was found using carpets and having walls covered with wooden material, which fuelled the flames, the Minister said.
A magisterial inquiry into the incident is ongoing, he said.