Rajkot fire tragedy: Gujarat govt continues crackdown on premises lacking safety permits

Following the tragic fire incident in a Rajkot gaming zone that claimed more than 30 lives, the Gujarat government’s drive to seal premises lacking fire safety clearances continued across the state for the sixth day.

Schools, hospitals among sealed premises 

The Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) sealed 28 more premises on May 31, including 15 schools, several coaching institutes, and two hospitals. On the same day, the local civic body sealed 128 shops and other properties in Vadodara including religious institutes such as the Methodist Church, BAPS Swaminarayan temple, Gurusingh Sabha Gurdwara, and Jumma Masjid in the city.

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has sealed 362 premises, including shops, salons, garages, eateries, schools, coaching centres, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, gymnasiums, and malls for not having fire NOC (No Objection Certificate) and BUC (Building Use Certificate). The total number of properties to be sealed in Surat is over 700, making it the city with the highest number of properties running without requisite licenses.

18 property owners booked 

Earlier, on May 28, over 100 properties were sealed, including gaming zones, and 18 owners of the properties were booked by the local police.

“Inspections are being focused on several aspects like verification of required permissions and licenses, assessment of maximum occupancy limits, examination of electrical loads, cables, and installations, inspection of fire safety equipment, escape routes and exit gates. Adding to that, we are also evaluating the strength and fitness of existing mechanical installations,” said an official of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

Fire safety certificate 

“What has prompted these inspections is that the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot did not have a fire safety certificate which is a pre-requisite for the BUC permit, power and water connections,” he added.

“In four years of operations, we did not receive a single application for fire safety certificate (FSC or NOC) from the TRP Game Zone,” said BJ Theba, the Rajkot Deputy Chief Fire Officer.

Noticeably, FSC is a pre-condition to obtain the BUC, which in turn is mandatory to get electricity and water connections. The TRP Gaming Zone in Rajkot had managed to obtain electricity connection from Paschim Gujarat Vij Corporation Limited (PGVCL) and water connection from the RMC despite not having FSC and BUC. It was granted police permission as well. The police license to operate any commercial property in the state is granted only after the applicant has obtained all other permissions.

Rule changes in the offing

The Comprehensive Gujarat Development Control Regulations (CGDCR), a body that regulates commercial properties, did not include gaming zones under its purview. However, following the Rajkot fire incident, the Gujarat government brought out a check list of safety regulations for gaming zones on May 31. The incident has also prompted a change in the process of granting fire safety NOC in the state.

“Earlier, people whose properties were sealed for the lack of fire NOCs were required to first file affidavits stating that the fire safety equipment would be installed within the next 30 days. Following this, the sealed premises would be opened. However, after we opened the properties, in most cases people would not follow through with the installation of fire safety equipment or renew the fire NOC. So now, senior officials have decided that the rule needs to change. A decision will be taken in the coming days on what procedure should be followed for opening sealed properties,” said Basant Parikh, the Chief Fire Officer of Surat.

Inquiry against officers

Days after the Gujarat High Court took suo motu cognisance of the Rajkot fire tragedy, the court has sought a report from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the incident.

Additional Judicial Magistrate BP Thakkar issued a notice to the SIT set up to investigate the incident, seeking a status report by June 20.

It also sought a Criminal Inquiry Plea seeking to file FIRs against the then Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava, then Municipal Commissioner Anand Patel, and two other IPS officers who have been transferred.

The petition argued that the grounds on which these officials were transferred or suspended were enough to register an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 337 (causing hurt to someone by acting in a way that is rash or negligent and endangers human life or the safety of others), and 338 (causing grievous hurt to someone by an act that endangers their life or personal safety).

9 officials suspended

“The reason for filing this present complaint has also arisen because 27 persons have died, and other persons injured due to their carelessness in duties. The TRP game zone was running for the last three-four years without any permissions or licence,” read the criminal plea.

Noticeably, following the incident on May 25, a total of nine junior officials were suspended while the Rajkot Police Commissioner, Municipal Commissioner, and Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) were transferred without further posting.

Among the suspended civic officials are the Chief Fire Officer of Rajkot Ilesh Kher, Assistant Engineer Jaideep Chaudhary, Assistant Town Planner Gautam Joshi, Fire Station Officer Rahit Vigora, Deputy Executive Engineer of Roads and Buildings Department MR Suma, Assistant Engineer Paras Kothia, and police inspectors VR Patel and NI Rathod.