NEW DELHI: The guest house and hotel union of Delhi has once again knocked the doors of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, requesting that guest houses which started operations back in 1990 be allowed to run with regard to the new fire safety norms.
"As per the provisions of MPD2021, height of the building was considered as the criterion for licensing. As long as the height is 15 meters, we were provided NOCs / licenses, irrespective of the number of floors. At present we are forced to submit an affidavit stating that we are operating with ground plus three floors without consideration of the height of the building" said president of the hotel union Arun Gupta in his letter to Baijal on Tuesday.
After the fire at Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh, which killed more than a dozen people, Home Minister Satyender Jain assembled a special committee to look into the fire safety standards of all guest houses in New Delhi.
Soon after, the DFS, issued closure notices to owners of around 50 hotels for not complying with the safety norms.
These included guest houses and restaurants situated in Paharganj, Karol Bagh and Chandni Chowk area.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS), meanwhile, changed the requirements for getting NOCs, which the hotel owners state is not possible for them as they are located in areas where making changes to the basic structure of the building is not allowed for heritage value.
Gupta said, guest houses that were paying House Tax since the 1990s onwards should be allowed to run as long as the height of the building is within 15 meters, irrespective of the number of floors.
The traders want the government to form a committee, inclusive of their members, which shall help in providing the industry perspective on various rules and regulations, especially those related to fire safety norms.