GVMC to take stern action against fire safety violators

Visakhapatnam: In a move to avert fire accidents, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is paying larger focus on adherence to fire safety norms.

As a part of it, the GVMC has so far identified 300 buildings in the city that violated safety norms. Despite the defaulters receiving notices, not many appear to pay heed to the same.

With this, the GVMC is now going to prosecute 30 building owners within corporation jurisdiction for failing to meet required standards and thereby violating the Fire Service Act-1999.

After serving show-cause notice twice that lasted for 60 days, the municipal corporation will take further action against the violators by filing a case against them in the court. "Based on the violation, form-9, 10, 12 and 14 show-cause notices have been issued to the violators according to the Act. We have directed the building owners to rectify the lapses and meet the safety norms within a period of 30 days. Despite issuing the final notice, 30 people fail to respond. Now, cases will be filed against them and action will be taken accordingly," says D Niranjan Reddy, GVMC Regional Fire Officer.

Those who need to obtain no objection certificate (NOC), the GVMC officials say, they have been alerted. Suggestions were also given to ready required documents and renovations to be made in the premises.

Non-compliance to safety norms leads to grave mishaps. In such a scenario, the municipal corporation officials say that controlling fire during any untoward incident turns out to be a daunting task. In most buildings, the officials concerned say that there was no proper fire-fighting equipment to bring the situation under control in case of any contingency. "In such cases, there will be a significant loss of not just property but also life," adds Niranjan Reddy.

In 2020, 20 provisional fire NOCs, 167 occupancy fire NOCs and 242 renewal fire NOCs were issued which led to a collection of Rs 1.38 crore fee.