The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) has refused to renew the fire safety certificate for the Annexe New Building at Talkatora Stadium, citing 12 critical lapses posing a serious risk to public safety, officials said.
The rejection came after a joint inspection on November 6 by DFS personnel and representatives from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), according to an official statement issued on November 13.
The report noted that most of the essential fire safety mechanisms at the building were non-functional, such as the fire control room, public-address system and a manually operated electronic fire alarm (MOEFA) system.
Further, crucial fire suppression and detection infrastructure were also compromised, the report mentioned. Smoke detectors, smoke management systems and pressurisation systems for staircases and lift lobbies were either damaged or non-functional. Even basic frontline firefighting mechanisms such as hydrants, internal hose reels and terrace pumps were found either damaged or not in operation.
The DFS further noted that internal hydrants had no hose boxes at multiple locations or there were no hoses inside the boxes, while hydrant pipes were damaged at several points. Additional lapses included a non-working smoke management system and a 900 litres per minute (LPM) terrace pump was found to be removed.
“In view of the shortcomings, the application for issuance of fire safety certificate is rejected. The occupancy of the building/premises in absence of requisite fire safety arrangements shall be at the risk and liability of the owner/occupier,” stated the fire department’s letter.
The communication also authorises statutory agencies to take action as deemed appropriate, raising questions about the preparedness of the city’s key sports and public-event venue, ahead of the winter events season.
The NDMC did not respond on steps being taken to comply with the DFS directives.
