The Ghaziabad fire department has issued notices to owners of around 50 high-rises for not adhering to mandatory fire safety norms, officials said on Tuesday.
The notices are part of a fire-safety awareness and inspection drive, which was initiated on May 1 after the major fire incident at Gaur Green Avenue high-rise in Indirapuram gutted eight flats on April 29.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had taken cognizance of the incident and later, the department ordered inspections across an estimated 450 residential high-rises.
“During the first ten days of the drive, our teams inspected about 100 high-rises, and 50 of these were served notices for non-compliance and other violations, such as encroachment on setback areas, parking in common movement spaces, non-renewal of fire NOCs, and non-functional fire equipment, among others,” chief fire officer (CFO) Rahul Pal told HT.
Officials said major violations were found in high-rises in Crossings Republik, Indirapuram, and Raj Nagar Extension. The developers of violating buildings will receive three notices in total, and cases will be registered in the competent court if they fail to respond or adhere to norms, officials said.
“In case of encroachment, the department will write to the concerned development authorities to issue encroachment and demolition notices as part of the process. Since we must cover all high-rises, the drive has been extended further,” the CFO added.
HT had reported on May 2 that nearly 52 residential high-rises in Ghaziabad are already facing court cases for non-compliance with fire safety norms, while 139 others—of which about 80% are residential—have already been served notices by the fire department.
According to the department’s official figures, the district has already recorded a total of 580 fire incidents till April 29 this year, while 1,437 such cases were logged last year, 1,607 in 2023 and 1,068 in 2022.
In a report, a joint committee formed under the direction of district magistrate Ravinder Kumar Mandar found instances of encroachment at Gaur Green Avenue. These encroachments allegedly hampered firefighting operations during the incident last month.
