Despite facing flak for not making requisite site visits before handing over no-objection certificates to buildings and restaurants in the city, the fire department of the BMC is planning to issue fresh guidelines that could make site visits a thing of the past.
According to a civic official, the new guidelines will state the number of equipment to be installed by the developer for every square metre area to be developed. For example, a certain number of fire-fighting equipment will be mentioned for a specific area to be developed and when the plan of development is submitted to the fire department, the standards will be verified. The fire department will only intervene, if the proposed project doesn’t meet the standard requirement. This data will be fed into the online site, where one currently applies for the NOC.
When contacted, a senior fire officer, said, “This will help us fast-track the permission process and will also help us save time spent visiting sites. We are currently in the process of establishing standardised requirements, and permissions will be given on that basis.”