Take action against 972 high-rise buildings with no fire safety NOC:HC to AMC

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today instructed Ahmedabad municipal commissioner, Mukesh Kumar to take appropriate action against the 972 high-rise buildings in the city which allegedly don’t comply with the fire safety norms.

The division bench comprising Justic M R Shah and Justice A S Supehia instructed Mr. Kumar, who was physically present before the court, to take action against these buildings within two week.

It also did not buy the argument of the AMC counsel that the body needs more teeth to take action against those who don’t comply with its rules.
On the last date of the hearing last week the court had ordered Mr Kumar to
to remain present before it on September 14 (today), as it was was not satisfied with the affidavit sought over the issue of fire safety in highrise buildings and schools.

The court had even termed the affidavit filed by the municipal commissioner, a “cleverly drafted affidavit”.
The affidavit said that in over 2,400 highrise buildings in the city, 972 buildings do not have the no objection certificate (NOC) of the AMC with regard to fire safety ie fire NOC. Of these 3 buildings were without any fire safety equipment. The list of such non-compliers include well know buildings like Acropolis Mall, Gulmohar Mall, LIC buildings, Rajasthan Hospital, May Flower Hospital among others..

The court had on last date also questioned as to why the affidavit was silent on what action AMC has taken and what action it intends to take in future to implement the fire safety laws.

DeshGujarat