Charged NoCs threaten to skew fire safety compliance in city

Ludhiana: Despite the industrial town’s dubious fire safety record, residents are not bothered about getting no objection certificates (NoC) from the fire brigade unless they have to produce it as part of their documents. Under the circumstances, imposition of NoC charges does not augur well for the city.
Fire officials have demanded implementation of Fire Safety and Prevention Act to ensure fulfilment of fire safety norms. This year, from January till July 10, almost 702 NoCs were issued. Most of them were taken by private schools, malls, hospitals, commercial buildings and major industrial units. Officials also said most of the 702 NoCs were renewals and very few fresh NoCs were issued. Last year, 1,700 NoCs were issued.
According to a survey conducted by Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), the city had over 4 lakh properties around five years back and now, the number has increased exponentially. Of these, over 1.25 lakh properties included industrial units, commercial buildings and mixed land units. MC records stated that at least 65,000 units paid property tax in 2018-19 but no one seemed to be bothered about getting fire NoCs.
A fire official said while charging for fire NoCs is a step in the right direction, the fire department should have been given some powers before implementation of the move. In 2017, he said, after a fire and building collapse, a survey of various buildings was conducted. After the survey, at least 55,000 establishments were supposed to get notices. However, they could serve notices to only a few buildings as they did not have the power to either seal the building or take any other action against the owners for not having NoC. Before imposing fee, the government should have implemented the Fire Safety and Prevention Act in the state, which gives requisite powers to the department to act, he said.
On implementation, fire station officer S N Sharma said, “We have just received the notification and changes are being made at the portal. We will have to wait for public response.”