Bombay High Court slams govt: ‘Will consider stopping all developmental permissions if no urgent steps taken to enforce fire safety norms’

The court said that an urgent decision was expected from the government in light of fire accidents including that of October 6 early morning, where seven members of a family including three minors were killed after fire broke out in the ground-plus-two storey structure at Chembur’s Siddharth Colony.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar passed an order on a PIL filed by lawyer Abha Singh, seeking expeditious issuance of final notification on ‘Special Regulations for Building Vulnerable to Manmade Disasters,’ which were formulated after the 26/11 terror attacks and bomb blasts.

The notification would include security rules in Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR), 2034 for Greater Mumbai and Unified Development Control And Promotion Regulations (UDCPR) for the rest of Maharashtra.

The amendments were proposed to strengthen the provisions relating to development and construction permissions, to make them compliant with necessary precautions required to prevent fire and addressing situations due to other man-made and natural disasters.

Advocate Aditya Pratap for the petitioner alleged that the fire safety approvals were brazenly granted by authorities in the city to various residential and commercial units, which would lead to mishaps.

Additional Government Pleader (AGP) Jyoti Chavan, representing the government, submitted that code of conduct for upcoming elections may affect the finalisation process.

CJ Upadhyaya questioned, “Is this (issuing notification) affected by the code of conduct? You (state) have not been able to issue a simple notification for long. Who stopped you? If the court had not passed orders repeatedly, you would not have taken up the matter this far.”

Chavan produced a letter dated October 7 written to her by state UDD official, claiming that it had compiled the concerned file and same is in the process for final approval.

Expressing its displeasure, the bench noted that in July this year, due to urgency involved, it had hoped that final notification shall be issued within two months by October 9.

“The final notification has not been issued till date. And in the meantime, the accidents being caused by fires in buildings, be it residential, commercial or industrial have not abated, leading to loss of human lives,” it noted.

Referring to the Chembur fire incident, the bench noted, “Such an incident is not a solitary incident drawing attention of all concerned. Therefore, the court had expressed expectation that necessary final notification be issued within two months while passing order in July, this year.”

It added, “It was expected from the UDD to have taken up the issue of finalisation of DCPR and UDCPR with a sense of extreme urgency and expedition.”

After it orally warned of summoning Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary of state UDD to appear before it, AGP Chavan sought time to take instructions from the officials on the issue, which the bench accepted with a warning of adverse action if required steps are not taken. It will hear the plea next on Friday, October 11.