Lucknow: After a massive fire accident in Lucknow's Levana hotel on Monday claimed four lives and left several injured, Lucknow Municipal Commissioner Dr Roshan Jacob said that the hotel premises will be sealed and the building will be demolished. The decision came after the commissioner surveyed the site of the incident and found shocking flaws in fire safety so much so that the hotel did not even have an approved construction map from the authorities.
Divisional Commissioner Roshan Jacob said that "the site of the fire incident at Levana Suites Hotel, Madan Mohan Malviya Marg, Hazratganj was inspected". "Despite the illegal construction, the fire NOC has been renewed by the fire department from 2021 to 2024. Prima facie the absence of fire safety management system and how fire clearance has been issued even after the iron grills on the façade is a matter of investigation," he said.
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"No copy of the approved map has been submitted to the Lucknow Development Authority by the owner of the hotel. It was brought to the notice by the Vice-President, Lucknow Avas Vikas Parishad (LAVP) that the Zonal Officer had sent a notice to Levena Hotel on 7th April 2022, after not getting a reply earlier notice issued by the prescribed authority under sub-section-1 of section 27 of the Uttar Pradesh Town Planning and Development Act, 1973.
"For now, we are taking immediate sealing action in this regard, the process of demolition will be done after completing the legal process according to the law," the commissioner added. According to accounts, firefighters utilised external ladders to get access to the windows of rooms on the second and third floors where individuals were trapped.
Two dead bodies were discovered when the fire safety crew examined the premises after finishing the rescue. As the fire was so severe, firefighters had to use excavators to dig apertures in the walls in order to pump water inside the first floor. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak visited victims at the hospital and ordered a thorough probe.
