Fire officer, AWHO director booked

Bipin Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, April 14

A group housing society – Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO), Vikram Vihar, Sector 27, here has come under the scanner with the Panchkula police registering a case of cheating, forgery and under the Prevention of Corruption Act against a fire officer of the Municipal Corporation and a project director of the society.

The officer and the project director were booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC and under the Prevention of Corruption Act on a complaint of Col Tajinder Singh (retd), president, and Major Virender Singh (retd), secretary, of the Users Committee of the society, on April 12. A case was registered against them at the Chandimandir police station.

The Panchkula police acted after the complainants moved an application at the CM Window in Panchkula, alleging corruption by Panchkula fire officials in issuing a no-objection certificate for fire safety to the group housing society, GH AWHO, Sector 27, on February 13. The application was forwarded to the DGP, Haryana, and further to the district police.

Taking note of the complaint, the Panchkula police sought an opinion from the DDA and the case was registered after an investigation by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Jagtar Singh. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, Hamid Akhtar said the case was being investigated from all angles and action would be taken against those involved in it. In the application, the complainants have claimed that the NOC for fire safety clearance was given by the fire officer of the MC to the project director, AWHO. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) had issued an occupation certificate to the society for this multi-storeyed housing project comprising 10 towers (stilt plus nine storeys).

The complainants also stated that no fire safety equipment/infrastructure was in place in any of the blocks at the time of the inspection conducted by the fire officials. Of the 10 blocks, fire safety equipment was partially placed in five blocks on August 2014 whereas the inspection was carried out before July 2013.

Hence the effectiveness of the entire fire safety was compromised with. The guidelines of the National Building Code of India were also violated blatantly, the complainants alleged.

A majority of the blocks were without the mandatory fire safety norms even now, they said. The complainants stated that the AWHO had already given possession to 350 allottees and more than 100 families had already shifted there and were living under a "great risk". A majority of the residents are retired Army personnel.