Most Faridabad units without fire NOC

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, May 23

The recent fire incident at a manufacturing unit in the Sarai Khawaja area of the city which killed three workers may pass as only an incident in the official records, but it points towards the lurking danger in view of the scores of units functional with inadequate fire safety norms or fire no objection certificate (NOC).

Life at stake

A majority of the 20,000-odd industrial units functional in the non-conforming zones do not have the NOC and, thus, pose a risk to employees. Sources in admn

“Though no official figure is available of any office about the units functional without the mandatory fire NOC, according to rough estimates, the number such units is in several thousands,” said sources in the civic administration.

A majority of the odd 20,000 industrial units functional in the non-conforming zones do not have the no objection certificateand, thus, pose a risk to the lives of employees, claimed the sources, who added that the district administration needed to learn from the recent incident.

“With no announcement for measures to prevent the repeat of such incidents coming from the authorities concerned, this speaks volumes about the seriousness of the administration regarding the safety measures ,’’ said Varun Sheokand, a social activist based here.

Claiming that the regularisation demand of the zones having 70 per cent or more industrial units has been pending for long, Rajiv Chawla, president of the Integrated Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of India (IAMSME), said the delay had resulted in the unavailability of civic amenities, making both industrial units and residents suffer.

A total of 23 clusters, having around 16,800 industrial units, had been found in a survey last year by the Department of Industries, it was claimed. Sarurpur, Mujheri, Gazipur, Mujesar, Bajri, New DLF, SGM Nagar, Jawahar Colony, Indira Colony, Krishna Colony, Malerna Road, Gurukul, Kharkhana Bagh,Ajronda and Dabua-Pali road were among the main non- conforming zones .

Stating that the units located in the non- conforming zones were not eligible for the NOC, Satyawan Samriwal, Additional District Fire Officer, said notices were issued from time to time to the buildings, offices or units found to be operational without the no objection certificate.

He added that 42 government offices had recently applied for the NOC after a warning of strict action. He admitted that large industrial units functional in the non-conforming areas were ineligible for the NOC.

Yashpal Yadav, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, said the issue was being taken up on a priority basis for a proper solution to prevent such incidents.