Delhi Aam Aadmi Party chief Saurabh Bhardwaj re-launched accountability in the Malviya Nagar fire incident in the national capital on Wednesday (June 10) by claiming that “firm action” was not taken against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials who were the culprits in the situation.
Bhardwaj claimed that the incident was not isolated in nature and it was necessary to take firm action against those responsible in order to prevent recurrence of fire incidents in the national capital.
Show cause notice
A show-cause notice was issued to Dr Sanjay Sinha, the current South District Health Officer, as per the official MCD portal, among others, on June 8. He was given 24 hours to submit a report on the incident and the reasons for not taking any action against him.
According to officials, the Ministry of Health is the main contact point for issuing and managing health trade licenses. The office is responsible for evaluating submitted documents and issuing licenses for facilities that comply with health and fire safety standards.
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As the illegal bed and breakfast establishment, Flourish Stay, was operating under an expired ‘tea and snack licence’, a notice was issued to the relevant authorities. The corporation reportedly applied for a license renewal on June 3, the day of the fire that killed 22 people, but the appeal was rejected.
“The same district health officer who was involved in the Malviya Nagar incident was responsible for the Arpit Hotel fire incident a few years ago,” Bharadwaj claimed, according to news agency PTI. “MCD must take strict action against the ‘corrupt’ official, and he must be sent to prison. Several incidents have occurred, but strong action is still waiting.”
Arbit Hotel fire 2019
According to Bharadwaj’s statement, Dr Sinha was not only involved in the recent Malviya Nagar fire but also in the 2019 fire at the Arpit Palace hotel in Karol Bagh, which claimed 17 lives.
Also read: Delhi has not learned lessons from the 2019 hotel fire that killed 17 people
At that time, the fire incident prompted the authorities to introduce stricter rules for such establishments by introducing a clause requiring the demolition of all floors above the third level in order to obtain a fire permit.
“The fire department cannot issue a no-objection certificate to any guest house or accommodation facility which has more than four floors, does not have ventilation on every floor, corridor or corridor or does not submit a floor plan of each floor to the department,” the May 2022 order said.
However, the mandate was reversed three months later in September by switching to an affidavit-based mechanism, which simply required agencies to obtain “a written acknowledgment from hoteliers that these spaces will not be used for any use that violates the rules.”
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An administrative inquiry into the Malviya Nagar fire incident is currently underway at the Delhi Court (Saket Court Complex) amid a recent plea by a lawyer to the Delhi High Court seeking suo motu cognizance of the matter.
