NEW DELHI: A delegation of hotel owners met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday to seek his intervention for bailing them out of their various problems.
The members of the Delhi Hotel Mahasangh met Kejriwal at his residence to discuss issues regarding the borewell water charges as well as the tough rules set for acquiring fire NOCs by hotel and guest house owners at Chandni Chowk, Paharganj and Karol Bagh.
“We had the information that the government plans to increase the sewer maintenance charges. So, we met the chief minister and requested him not to revise the rates. He listened to all our demands and said that he will look into it,” said Arun Gupta, secretary of Delhi Hotel Mahasangh.
According to owners, the Delhi Jal Board plans to increase the sewer charges to up to Rs 1,600 per month for small establishments.
Similarly, the guest house owners also asked for Kejriwal’s attention on the fire NOC issue. “Most of our fire NOCs were issued before year 2007 based on the guidelines inscribed in the Delhi Master Plan 2021 for special areas. Our guest houses reviewed for compliance based on the rules that were prevalent at the time of grant of NOC. Any changes to the existing norms should be applicable only for new fire NOC applicant,” added Gupta.
After the fire at Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh which killed 17 people in February this year, the government made several changes in the building bylaws for hotels.
The third issue raised by the members was getting permission for setting up small generators to run the fire safety equipment. At present, use of generator sets is banned by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).