Hotel and guest houses in Delhi get more time to comply with fire norms

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi government has extended by another three months the deadline for hotel and guest houses to operate without making the necessary changes in their structure to conform to the new building bylaws, According to a recent notification from the urban development department of Delhi government, an extension till March 31 has been provided keeping in mind the Covid-19.

The government order said the deadline for compliance had been extended till March 31, 2021 “keeping in view the rough phase of the hotel and restaurant industry during the Covid-19 pandemic”.

“This was requested because as per the amendments notified by the government in 2019, many alterations like installing fire doors, among others, will have to be made to the hotels and guest houses under the building bylaws. These are not possible as the area is very congested and the changes are very expensive, so we kept asking for more time from the government. We welcome this move of the Delhi government;,” said Jagpreet Arora, president of the Hotel Associations of Karol Bagh.

In May 2019, Delhi’s urban development department had initiated amendments to the building bylaws, paving way for fire safety revamp of hotels and guest houses, after a major fire outbreak at Arpit Hotel in Karol Bagh earlier in February, which had claimed 17 lives.

The Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association had been requesting the government to exempt the establishments in Paharganj and Karol Bagh, among a few other areas, from making changes to the structure in conformity with the fire safety norms.

The government had extended the deadline till December 31, 2020.

According to traders, the pandemic pushed the entire city into lockdown for months, making it difficult to effect the changes in the little time left after lifting of lockdown.