On Friday, January 12th Delhi high court showed concern over the absence of separate fire exists in most of the eateries in Hauz Khas Village.
The court termed Hauz Khas Village ‘a ticking time bomb’ stating that neither the government nor the restaurant owners have ensured fire safety at maximum outlets there.
After the horrific deaths due to a fire in a Mumbai pub, a bench of acting Chief justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar expressed concern over lack of fire safety measures and sought a response from the civic agencies.
In PILs filed by activist Pankaj Sharma and advocate Anuja Kapur, they have claimed that over 120 restaurants and pubs running in Hauz Khas Village are without any approved building plans or No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the authorities, which includes the fire department.
The petitioners also alleged that the streets are not wide enough for fire trucks to move easily in case of an emergency and only a few restaurants have fire clearance
The Delhi Fire Service admitted so in an affidavit.
The court has repeatedly red-flagged the absence of proper clearances in the congested zone and is now monitoring steps taken by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), Delhi Police and other agencies to ensure that only those eateries function which have got proper clearances from the respected agencies.
The court also questioned the SDMC why it granted permission to eateries despite complaints from the Archaeological Survey of India that constructions were going on within 100m of protected monuments.
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