Mumbai: Within 24 hours of the Bombay High Court warning it to pass an order banning all development permits in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government issued a notification regarding fire safety regulations for vulnerable buildings terrorist attacks/man-made disasters.

The amended regulations aim to strengthen fire and electrical safety measures and regular checks of its equipment to ensure that there is no loss of life and property due to fire accidents. Over the past few years, the city has witnessed several fires, not only in slums but also in high-rise buildings, where many people have lost their lives. Most of these fires are due to non-compliance with fire safety standards.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar on Wednesday slammed the state government for failing to take action regarding framing of fire safety rules. He warned that if necessary steps are not taken, then he may consider passing an ordinance restricting approval of construction plans in Mumbai.

The HC warning had come during the hearing in a public interest litigation (PIL) by lawyers Abha Singh and Aditya Pratap, seeking enforcement of safety rules in buildings vulnerable to man-made disasters. The court criticized the state after learning of recent building fires that left several people dead.

Although the Urban Development Department (UDD) has appointed an expert committee to prepare independent safety monitoring regulations for building safety to deal with man-made disasters, it has not been notified.

On Friday, state lawyer Jyoti Chavan informed the court that the Urban Development Department had issued the notices on Thursday evening. She said the notifications would come into force after their publication in the Official Gazette.

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

The regulations will be applicable to buildings with a built-up area exceeding 10,000 m² or occupying more than 1,000 people, which are vulnerable to man-made disasters based on the risk assessment score.

Each high-rise building must be equipped with fire towers with a fire resistance of at least 2 hours, consisting of a fire escape elevator with a ventilated hall as an integral part of the emergency staircase, preferably at the level of the landing.

High-rise buildings of 90 meters and above must be equipped with a fire-rated water tank system with a water tank system with fire pumps every 65 m in height from the ground.

Before undertaking development work, the developer must submit a certificate of supervision by a licensed electrical engineer with regard to planning, design of electrical installations, as well as supervision of electrical installations during the progress of the buildings. A similar certificate must be submitted after project completion, when submitting a Certificate of Occupation (OC) proposal.

“In case of any discrepancies observed in the planning, design and execution…the license issued shall be revoked and the electrical engineer/consultant may be debarred from any further practice/activity…,” the notification said.

The notification also lists the regulatory criteria applicable after the completion of the building, which states that the fire protection measures must be well maintained by the owner/society.

Additionally, electrical installations must be inspected periodically, at least once every 5 years, and certified by a licensed electrical engineer.

It specifies that the conditions for maintenance of electrical and fire installations must be included in the occupancy/completion certificate issued by the Authority. “Failure to maintain fire installations and periodic certification may result in withdrawal of occupancy certificate by the authority, in addition to fines/penalties and other actions by the authorities concerned,” adds the notification.

Failure to maintain electrical installations and periodic certification may result in the power supply being cut off until rectified. The HC reserved the matter for hearing on November 20.