NEW DELHI: Police have written to Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to place on record the norms flouted by the building owner in Mundka, where a blaze claimed 27 lives on Friday.
The agencies have been asked to verify documents, sources said, adding that police will also record the statements of officials from these departments for their chargesheet.
"It seems that apart from flagrant violation of rules by the building-owners, poor monitoring by officials led to a series of violations, which in turn, caused the fire tragedy. The government must also take strict action against such errant officials to deliver a terse message.-Timesview"
There have been a slew of allegations pertaining to violation of rules by the owner. The families of the victims have claimed that the building housed a warehouse used to store highly combustible items, the staircase was blocked with batteries and inverters, and there was no emergency exit. Sources said the building neither had an NOC nor fire clearance, or even proper firefighting equipment. The owner, Manish Lakra, also did not obtain a clearance from police while subletting the place for commercial activity, it has been alleged.
The building apparently had two generators, one in the basement and another on the first floor. The one that allegedly caused the fire had a short-circuit a month before the incident and needed some parts and wires to be replaced. However, the owner allegedly didn’t pay any heed. Police are also probing whether the building was consuming more power than sanctioned and will write to the electricity department to verify this, sources said.
On Monday, Lakra was taken to his house for investigation. Cops were seeking to collect documents regarding the building and tenants, according to sources. During questioning, Lakra said he had documents related to the sanction of the building at his house on the top floor of the building.
“During a search, we found there were several burnt papers. So far, we have not found documents related to the building,” an officer said.
Another officer said they had questioned Harish Goel and his brother Varun, owners of a company that operated on the second and third floors. “Both of them said documents related to the firm and their staff were destroyed in the fire,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, a team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) visited the spot on Monday. NHRC official Sunil Meena said cognisance has been taken and they are looking into alleged violation of norms.
