All buildings housing brothels at Swami Shradhanand Marg, commonly known as GB Road (Garstin Bastion Road), in central Delhi will soon have to mandatorily undergo a detailed safety inspection.
The move comes after a four-storey building — that partially serves as a brothel — went up in flames last Thursday (November 5), prompting the evacuation of 60-70 sex workers and their customers.
The fire continued to rage for more than two hours and a spate of cylinder blasts on the upper floors caused the top floor to collapse partially. While no deaths or injuries were reported, the firefighting revealed glaring lapses as far as safety from fire is concerned.
GB Road, which connects Ajmeri Gate to Lahori Gate near Old Delhi, has around 85 brothels, which employ around 2,500 women as sex workers.
Officials said the inspection will be carried out jointly by Delhi Fire Service and North Delhi Municipal Corporation, and are expected to begin after Diwali on Saturday.
Officials said the brothels are a cause of major concerns as most of the buildings there have narrow staircases, mezzanine floors, small chambers and dilapidated roofs, all in violation of fire safety norms.
Rajesh Kumar Shukla, assistant divisional officer, who led the firefighting effort on Thursday, said they found that these buildings have staircases that are less than a metre wide, and mezzanine floors and chambers that have been constructed illegally with no fire-fighting equipment in place. “There is barely any fire safety norm being followed here. The current situation is disastrous. Any major fire can turn out tobe fatal leaving no scope for evacuation or rescue operation at all,” Shukla said.
Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said these brothels have never been inspected by the Delhi Fire Service. “In my memory, the area has never been inspected. This is also because Delhi Fire Service Act 2007 and Rule 2010 do not include the word ‘Kotha’. Further, as these are residential buildings which are less than 15 metres tall, they do not fall under our purview. There are shops on the ground floor and residential area on the second and third floors. The mercantile shops are also not under our purview as they do not exceed a height of nine metres,” Garg said.
Jai Prakash, mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation said the constructions in GB Road area were very old, dating to the 1960s, when norms were not very strict. “I had visited the place immediately after the incident. The area is congested, with narrow lanes. After Diwali, we will conduct a survey to identify vulnerable buildings in the area and check for illegal construction in the buildings. We will try to find out how fire hazards can be avoided and what other structural safety measures can be taken,” Prakash said.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s Shoaib Iqbal, who is the member of legislative assembly from Matia Mahal, the constituency under which a part of GB Road also falls, said they have been planning for long to relocate the sex workers. “Even though no lives were lost, the fire incident reminds us of the magnitude of tragedy that may unfold. We plan to discuss it with the fire department and other authorities concerned and reach a solution,” Iqbal said.
