Arpit Palace Flouted Norms, Was Meant To Be Auctioned 

New Delhi: Despite possessing the fire department's no-objection certificate (NOC), the untrained staff at the Arpit hotel in central Delhi could not use the equipment to douse a fire that killed 17 persons on Tuesday, a senior fire officer said.

"There was wooden cladding all over the stairs and the corridors' wall, which led the fire to spread all over the hotel premises. The fire had started on the first floor and people got stuck on the corridor. The passage was so narrow that when they started running, a stampede occurred," Chief Fire Officer Atul Garg said.

"All the casualties were reported from the third and fourth floors as the exit got stuck. We pulled the bodies from those two floors," he added.The hotel had the fire-fighting equipment, but the untrained staff could not operate them, Garg said.

"There was only one emergency exit which was locked. The windows were automatic and had a push-button system. The staff could not open the windows as they were not aware of this function and the fire-fighters had to break open the glass," Deputy Fire Officer Sunil Chaudhary said. At around 7 am, the last body was pulled out of the hotel, he added.

Those who survived the tragedy said the switches in the hotel rooms were not functioning properly and when the fire broke out, they found it difficult to locate the stairs as there was not sufficient light. There was a restaurant at the top of the hotel, violating rules, a fire officer said.

Guest houses in Karolbagh operating as 'hotels' flouting rules: Hospital industry representatives

There are over 1000 guest houses in Paharganj and Karol Bagh areas of the city and most of them were carrying out commercial activities under the garb of hotels, not allowed under the rules, claimed representatives of hospitality industry.

There are around 800 guest houses in Paharganj and about 250 in Karolbagh that are covered under the Saray Act but run as hotels, claimed Arun Gupta, president of Delhi Hotel Mahsangh.

"No commercial activity is allowed at these so called hotels, let alone restaurants or bars," he said.Gupta alleged that the process of issuing licence to these guest houses was at "fault" since as many as five agencies were involved in it.

"They first have to take a fire department's no objection certificate. Permission is also granted by the local police, excise department of Delhi government, licensing department of police and the municipal corporations," Gupta said.

Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owner Association president Sandip Khandelwal said the guest houses ran in the name and style of hotels by offering three star facilities.

"Around 90 per cent of these hotels are guest houses that assume name of hotel as per their requirements," he said.

He claimed that owner of the Hotel Arpit Palace was out of the country for some family function. The hotel was to be auctioned against some bank loan in December last year but it apparently did not happen, he said.

The ground floor of the Arpit Palace was being used as a restro-bar in the name and style of "Crossroads Restro & Bar". Khandelwal claimed the licence was taken for running the restro-bar at the hotel. (PTI)

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