Rajkot fire tragedy: Authorities failed to demolish property despite notice
After over 10 days of the Rajkot TRP Game Zone fire tragedy, an affidavit was filed by Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) Commissioner Anand Patel in the ongoing PIL of Gujarat High Court on June 5.
It was revealed that the authorities averted the demolition of the game zone despite the notice for almost 11 months.
The negligence and lapse in responsibilities were confessed as the concerned town planning officer and chief fire officer were supposed to visit the spot and conduct a proper legal inspection.
They were also obliged to take legal action as per the rules of the Fire Safety Act.
According to the details submitted by the RMC officials in the high court, only a scrutiny fee of ₹100 was paid online on Apr 2, 2024.
Despite asking for relevant documents, and plans as per GRUDA (The Gujarat Regularization of Unauthorised Development) Act, 2022, the authorities failed to submit fire NOC, building use or development permission, or structural stability certificate.
Not even any documents regarding ownership of the land were presented.
A special bench had been constituted by Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal comprising Justices Biren Vaishnav and Devani M Desai to hear the suo moto cognizance of Gujarat High Court and PIL filed by Advocate Amit Panchal regarding the Rajkot fire case.
A significant hearing of the case was held today at 9:00 am by this special bench.
What did the SIT yield?
On the other hand, though the investigations by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Subhash Trivedi have now been completed, many pieces of evidence remain pending to be collected by the committee.
It has been reported that nearly half of the files for police approval in the investigation process have gone missing and have not been found yet. Additionally, the committee is still conducting searches for other documents and evidence.
Moreover, as the remand duration of one of the owners of the game zone, Kiritsinh Jadeja has ended on June 5, he will be presented in the court today.
Lower quality fire safety equipment?
Reports suggest that the owners and partners of the game zone opted for cheaper, lower-quality devices for fire safety which failed during a fire, resulting in 27 deaths.
As per sources, investigations have revealed a gradual increase in revenue since the establishment of the game zone in 2001, with extensive construction aimed at boosting revenue.
However, the exact revenue remains undisclosed, with suspicions of tampered financial records and potential money laundering through online and cash transactions. Income tax investigations are also expected.
Also read:
Your privacy
By clicking “Accept all cookies”, you agree Gujarat Samachar can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy