Marriage halls in Kangra lack firefighting equipment

Ravinder Sood
Palampur June 5

Marriage halls and marriage palaces mushrooming in this largest district of the state seem unmindful that they are playing with the lives of people. These commercially used structures lack fire-fighting equipment, ensuring no life safety arrangements in the event of a fire breaking out.

Though the Himachal Pradesh government has issued guidelines from time to time for fire safety in hotels and marriage palaces, the owners of these commercial structures have paid no heed to the advice. The state agencies have also failed to implement the guidelines of the state government.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that district administration, police and state tourism department are not in sync with each other as these departments have no data relating to the fire safety certificates issued to over 100 marriage palaces in the district.

Pankaj Sharma, SDM, Palampur, when contacted by The Tribune, says that his office has no role in the issue of fire safety certificates to marriage places. He says his office also has no record of marriage palaces functioning in Palampur sub-division. Likewise, DSP Palampur said no NOCs are issued by the police for such marriage palaces.

Unfortunately, authorities are turning a blind eye failing to ensure availability of fire safety arrangements in marriage halls and commercially used buildings where marriages and other ceremonies are solemnized. Senior officials are well versed with the facts that people use LPG cylinders for cooking at marriage halls. Besides, high voltage electricity gadgets and lighting are also used to decorate these structures. Under such conditions, if anything goes wrong, the consequences would be horrendous.

Marriage halls in Palampur, Kangra Dharamsala, Baijnath and Nagrota Bagwan lack firefighting equipment and don’t follow life safety guidelines. These structures need to ensure fire safety equipment before allowing marriage ceremonies.