Jagran correspondent, New Delhi. The fire department has rejected the application for fire safety renewal of Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, the state-of-the-art headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs located at Janpath. Fire department officials had inspected the premises on December 23, finding that deficiencies pointed out by them earlier had not been rectified.
In view of this, the report issued by the fire department on December 30 said that the application for renewal of safety certificate cannot be considered at this stage and is rejected. In the absence of necessary fire safety arrangements, use of the premises will be at the risk and responsibility of the owner and tenant.
According to the report, officials had inspected the building in January 2025 and found several deficiencies. During inspection, it was found that the glass of the fire check door in the basement was broken, while the door closers had been removed at some places. Additionally, the electric shaft was not sealed, while the smoke management system in the basement was not functioning and not integrated with the detection system.
In the basement, sprinklers are hidden above ventilation shafts that needed to be brought down by ducting, the report said. The exit signs in the basement were also found inadequate. According to the fire department, because these deficiencies have not been corrected, the application has been rejected.