HYDERABAD: The fire accident at a building at Shamshabad which houses a lodge, an ESI dispensary and residential flats _ Anupama Residency _ raises a pertinent question: Will action be taken against the owner of the building and, if yes, when?
Fire officials said on Wednesday that notices would be sent to the building’s owner, identified as one Santosh, and prosecution would be launched against him. However, Anupama Residency will not be sealed and will be allowed to operate normally.
After a fire accident at Katriya Hotel in the city in January this year, fire department officials found that the hotel, located in a nine-storeyed building, was running without a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the fire department.
They also found out that the firefighting systems were not functioning when the fire occurred. After the violations came to the fore, the department declared the hotel building as unsafe and a fire hazard. It also recommended to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to seal the hotel. Prosecution was launched against the building owner and the matter is in court.
Though the prosecution is still in progress, the GHMC has just sent notices to the hotel and did not bother to seal the hotel building even after it being declared unsafe by the fire department. Surprisingly, the hotel resumed normal functioning from the very next day after the fire accident.
In this backdrop, the question arises now whether any action will be taken against the owner of the Shamshabad building which too did not have firefighting equipment as confirmed by fire department officials. Nor does the building have an NOC from the fire department.