RTI reveals government offices in Gurgaon don't have fire safety certificates
25 Jul, 2013
An application was filed with the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to obtain information about the government buildings in the city with no-objection certificates from the fire department.
The reply to the application, furnished by the MCG, shows that majority of government buildings in Gurgaon don't have safety certificates from the fire department. The reply states that such buildings include the Mini Secretariat, the police commissioner office, the MCG building, the Haryana Urban development Authority (HUDA) administrator’s office, and the police stations in Gurgaon district. The Civil Hospital seems to be the only building which passes the fire certificate.
The National Building Code (NBC), 2005 has made it mandatory for all buildings taller than 15 metres to have the approval of fire fighting scheme from local fire and emergency services department. Obtaining the no objection certificate is mandatory after the completion of the building and has to be renewed every year but most government offices in Gurgaon flout the norms. Apart from this, NBC also makes it mandatory to have at least two fire extinguishers for each floor of the building. However, most buildings in Gurgaon including the Mini secretariat have less than half of the total requirement.