VIJAYAWADA: Paid quarantine facilities arranged in hotels in the city, have not obtained the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Services Department.
In Vijayawada, 20 paid quarantine facilities are housed in hotels and none of them has obtained the NOC from the department.
Speaking to TNIE on Sunday, Additional District Fire Officer (ADFO) A Sekhar said as per the National Building Code (NBC) and the Fire Services Act, buildings below 18 metres in height need not get the NOC from the fire services department.
However, as the hotel buildings are now serving as paid quarantine facilities, they need to obtain the NOC.
The hotels need to be equipped with basic fire safety such as water sprinkler system and smoke detectors, besides an emergency staircase.
In the case of Hotel Swarna Palace where a major fire mishap occurred, the ADFO stated that it took place in an old building, which did not have basic fire safety equipment and alternative staircase.
“Around 4 am, the fire broke out on the ground floor of the hotel and it spread to the first and second floors because of wooden railings and other furniture which caught fire. We received a communication at 5:09 am. Six fire tenders and 50 fire service personnel rushed to the spot within six minutes. It took 50 minutes to extinguish the flames,” Sekhar said.
The fire services officials said that they will inspect all the paid quarantine facilities arranged in hotels and Covid hospitals in the next few days to study the fire safety measures.
Vijayawada Hotels Association secretary Sanjay Mehta said that Ramesh Hospitals had taken four hotels on lease to arrange paid quarantine facilities.
He maintained that the fire NOC for hotel buildings below 18 metres in height is not mandatory.
“However, after the fire mishap at Swarna Palace, we have issued directions to all the 20 hotels housing paid quarantine facilities to audit the fire safety to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future,” he pointed out.