Central District Receives Most Notices in Delhi Post-Fire Safety Enforcement Drive
Following a deadly fire at a bed-and-breakfast in south Delhi's Hauz Rani that killed 23 people on June 3, authorities launched a major safety enforcement drive across the capital. Between June 4 and June 30, the Delhi government's revenue department sub-district committees and the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) inspected commercial buildings, with the Central district emerging as the area with the highest number of safety compliance notices.
In total, sub-district committees issued 573 safety notices across Delhi, while the DFS served 413 notices. The enforcement action was triggered by the June 3 tragedy, where the bed-and-breakfast in Hauz Rani was found to be operating 31 rooms instead of the permitted six, while lacking a fire exit and adequate ventilation. Among the 23 victims of that fire were 13 foreign nationals.
According to DFS data, the Central district recorded 99 notices from the sub-district committees and 55 notices from the DFS during the month-long drive. In the sub-district committee tallies, the South district recorded the second-highest number of notices with 81, followed by West (72), North-East (59), South-West (51), and South-East (44).
For DFS notices, the West district ranked second with 66, followed by South (51), North-East (48), and South-West (46). The enforcement drive targeted various commercial establishments among the capital's estimated 72,000 commercial buildings.
Inspection teams visited hotels, guest houses, banquet halls, educational institutions, and other commercial facilities. To coordinate the inspections, the Delhi government set up 13 district-level committees and 39 subdivision-level committees.
Officials revealed that the teams identified several recurring violations during their visits. These included the absence of emergency evacuation plans, missing disaster management plans, and a failure to display emergency contact numbers. Furthermore, inspectors found non-functional fire alarm systems, faulty firefighting equipment, exposed electrical wiring, inadequate numbers of fire extinguishers, and lifts operating without valid licences.
Other areas also received notices during the drive. The sub-district committees issued 33 notices each in North and the South & South-East subdivision, 29 in North-West, 23 in East, 20 in New Delhi, 12 in Outer North, 10 in the North-West subdivision, four in Central North, and three in the New and Old Delhi subdivision. Meanwhile, the DFS issued 32 notices in the South & South-East subdivision, 25 in North-West, 23 in East, 18 in South-East, 15 in North, 12 in Outer North, eight in the North-West subdivision, seven in New Delhi, four in Central North, and three in the New and Old Delhi subdivision.
