Ghaziabad: District magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mander on Thursday constituted a multi-department investigation team to examine the hurdles that hampered firefighting operations during Wednesday’s blaze at Gaur Green Avenue in Indirapuram, even as officials flagged encroachments, illegal constructions, and non-compliant balcony awnings as factors that allowed the fire to spread.The probe committee comprisies GDA secretary, ADM (finance and revenue), chief fire officer (CFO), and assistant director of electrical safety, is to submit its report to the DM.What may have gone wrongThe fire that broke out in a four-BHK flat on the ninth floor of Tower D at Gaur Green Avenue gutted eight flats across five floors before it was brought under control. The flat, owned by Kamal Paliwal, who lives in another unit in the same building, had been under renovation for five years. Residents said Paliwal would light a diya in the flat daily, which may have been the source of the fire, though officials said the cause was still under investigation.CFO Rahul Pal claimed the fire spread rapidly from the ninth to the 13th floor due to PVC sheet awnings installed on balconies across several floors. “This kind of sheet is also a good source of fire,” he said, adding that the department would also investigate whether residents had obtained permission from their apartment owners’ association (AOA) before installing the covers.Rescue operations were further slowed due to the narrow access to the building inside the society. Fire engines and hydraulic cranes, the CFO said, could not reach Tower D because of a park boundary wall, vehicles parked in open areas and other encroachments. Firemen first had to clear parked cars before tenders could get through, and then found that the park wall had narrowed the access road to the tower.“We removed several cars parked in the open area so that fire tenders could get access. Then we found that the boundary wall of the park had constricted the access road towards the tower,” Pal said.The AOA president, Kunjesh Singh Panwar, claimed the boundary wall and passage had been put in place by the builder before maintenance was handed over to residents about a decade ago. A maintenance official said the society had complained to GDA about illegal balcony encroachment by the flat’s owner as far back as 2023, but an inspection later that year yielded no action.
Firefighters spray water jets during firefighting operations at Gaur Green Avenue on Wednesday
Fix accountability for fire incidents: DMAt a district-level meeting chaired by Mandar on Thursday, which was attended by officials from 17 departments, authorities were directed to conduct regular inspections of fire safety standards across all highrise buildings, hospitals, hotels, malls, restaurants, and educational institutions in the district. The DM also directed GDA and officials from power, electrical safety, and fire departments to serve notices and take punitive action wherever violations were found. He also asked the departments to fix accountability in the event of a fire.The power department was asked to audit electricity loads across all highrise societies and industries. GDA and municipal authorities were directed to act against illegal balcony extensions and parking structures that obstruct emergency access, concerns raised at the meeting by flat owners’ association representatives themselves.The meeting also took note of recurring fires in the Kanawani area, where illegal scrap operations in slum and residential zones were cited as a major cause. The municipal corporation was directed to ban such activities and issue licences only where safety standards are met.42 bldgs flagged for violationsCFO Pal said that additional fire stations near Rajnagar Extension and other highrise residential clusters were urgently required. Subsequently, the DM directed that proposals be submitted at the earliest, factoring in both current and future requirements. Five fire stations are currently operational in the district, while two more are under construction.The fire department has identified 42 buildings, including residential complexes, hospitals, and hotels, as non-compliant with fire safety norms and potentially unsafe. Earlier inspections between 2017 and 2022 had flagged 51 such buildings. Nine have since upgraded their systems. Legal proceedings against the remaining 42 are ongoing.ADM (finance and revenue) Saurabh Bhatt said action would be taken against those responsible once the investigation is complete. The fire department’s own probe is running parallel to the DM-constituted inquiry, with its report also due within three days.
