In a setback for Congress government, the newly-appointed chief of the Fire and Rescue Services ratified his predecessor’s decision not to issue NOC to high rises that failed to comply with stipulated safe measures. Last month, the government had removed senior IPS officer Jacob Thomas as the Commandant of the Fire Force under duress from the builders after he insisted that buildings above 24 meters height should have safety provisions as per the National Building Code (NBC) 2005. After Thomas (an officer in the rank of DGP), was shunted out, the government appointed ADGP Anil Kant as the head of the Fire and Rescue Services. After examining the matter, Kant reported to the State Home Secretary last week, "the site and final non-objection certificates to high rises (above 24 meters) could not be issues since June 2015 as they have not complied with the safety steps in the NBC. It is the responsibility of the department to ensure fire safety provisions in the high rises in order to safeguard the lives of the occupants or visitors." After Kant assumed office, he looked into the petition filed by the Kerala chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) seeking NOC for tall buildings. Kant, in his report, said "at present 70 applications of buildings above 24 meter high are either pending or objected regarding issuing initial non-objection certificate. Besides, 35 applications seeking final NOC are either pending or objected for their failure to comply with fire safety provisions as per the national building code." An expert committee constituted by the Fire and Rescue Services Commandant examined all high rises (above 24 meter height) according to a new checklist prepared as per the NBC. The report of the new chief of the state fire force would be a major embarrassment to the government, particularly to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The Chief Minister had then cited silly reasons for Thomas’ removal. Chandy said the fire service did not rush a woman to hospital when she was lying unconscious at a railway station. When a fallen tree had blocked a road and stalled traffic, the force did not respond to police calls on the ground that it was not their duty to remove the tree. Claiming that there were complaints against Thomas, the Chief Minister had taken responsibility for removing Thomas. Later, it was revealed that there was no written complaint necessitating Thomas's removal.
