Neglecting multiple warnings from the fire department, the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) has fragrantly failed to comply with fire safety regulations at its flagship hotels—Mountview in Sector 10, Shivalikview in Sector 17 and Parkview in Sector 24—as well as Chef Lakeview at Sukhna Lake.
Operating without fire safety certificates, these establishments are not only violating the law but are also recklessly endangering the lives of visitors and employees, raising serious concerns about the corporation’s apathy.
CITCO was incorporated as a company under the Companies Act, 1956, in 1974, and currently runs various hotels and petrol pumps in Chandigarh.
The National Building Code (NBC), established in 2016, mandates that the fire no-objection certificate (NOC) regarding provision of fire safety equipment on a commercial establishment’s premises is to be renewed every three years.
However, for the past eight years, CITCO has consistently failed to obtain the crucial certificate, putting hundreds of lives at risk.
Worse, despite the clear excise department rule that a bar licence can only be granted upon submission of a fire NOC, CITCO’s facilities have managed to circumvent this requirement, merely providing undertakings that they have applied for the NOC, while fire safety measures remain inadequate.
CITCO’s executive engineer Jitender Singh said, “We have complied with most of the directions of the fire department and more improvements are underway. We are hopeful that everything will be in place by December this year. The issue has already been taken up in the board meeting.”
Sector 17 station’s fire officer Lal Bahadur Gautam said, “We have recently issued a letter to CITCO, instructing them to comply with the safety norms by December this year, failing which action will be taken. Shockingly, none of these hotels have sprinklers that prevent the fire from spreading.”
CITCO’s officiating managing director Hari Kallikkat was unavailable for a comment despite multiple attempts to contact him via calls and messages.
Callous approach to fire safety across city
Notably, there are around 20,000 commercial and government buildings in Chandigarh. But only a handful adhere to fire safety norms.
In August this year, the Chandigarh municipal corporation had issued fire advisories to 6,000 commercial and government buildings after conducting a safety audit.
As per the audit, most of these buildings did not have emergency exit points, fire extinguishers with ISI mark, hose reels, automatic alarm systems or fire smoke check doors. Besides, loose electricity wiring was found in most buildings.
In the wake of frequent fires at PGIMER, former UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit in April had directed the hospital authorities to comply with the National Building Code for obtaining fire safety certificates to ensure the safety of patients and staff. At present, PGIMER has a fire certificate for only one of the total 17 buildings.
Renovation of hotels pending for three years
In 2021, CITCO had decided to renovate its three hotels to equip them with latest design and facilities to help tackle losses. But even after three years, there has been no progress. A senior CITCO officer said, “The authorities concerned are not taking any initiatives despite several presentations regarding the renovation. It is becoming increasingly difficult to compete with private hotels due to the delay.”
Chinese restaurant to be leased out after losses
After a three-year wait, Hotel Mountview in Sector 10 reopened its Chinese restaurant “Magic Wok” in June last year. The restaurant, which was closed in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, was reopened on June 19, 2023. But that did little to tide over the losses, forcing CITCO to take a decision on leasing it out.
During the Board of Directors meeting held last month, it was shared that the restaurant had been suffering significant losses, following which the managing director instructed officials to prepare terms and conditions for leasing it out.
When asked about the reason for the losses, a senior officer said, “There is a shortage of staff and we do not have professional chefs.”
Headless for over two years
CITCO has been operating under makeshift arrangements since March 2022 after managing director Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu, a Punjab-cadre IAS officer, returned to her parent cadre. The post is traditionally held by a Punjab cadre IAS officer. Since then, the additional charge was being handled by UT cadre IAS officer Purva Garg. As of March this year, the charge has been with another UT cadre IAS officer Hari Kallikkat. This instability is further contributing to ongoing operational issues.
