NEW DELHI: About an hour after the fire tore through the Hauz Rani bed and breakfast on June 3, it’s owner, Lovkesh Bajaj, applied for the renewal of the licence of a ground floor establishment.
The licence, according to MCD, had expired on March 31. MCD officials said on Friday that the licence had been rejected.
MCD has a category of instant licences that are given to tea and snacks establishments which have no seating. The ground floor of the Hauz Rani B&B, which used to run as a restaurant, had only this licence, MCD officials said on Friday. This expired on March 31.
Recently, MCD also deregulated the tea and snacks licence, saying that only
FSSAI’s nod would be needed in the form of a health trade licence to run such a business.
On Friday, when asked about the licence status of the Hauz Rani facility, an MCD official said: “While the tea and snacks licence was issued to a person identified as Lovkesh Bajaj, a separate licence for operating the B&B facility had been issued by another agency to Jai Mishra. Personal kitchen facilities were provided on each floor.”
While agencies, including Delhi Police, are still probing the exact cause of the fire, the civic body claimed that Bajaj attempted to obtain a fresh health trade licence for the ground floor under the same ‘tea and snacks stall’ category on June 3 — the very day the building caught fire. The applicant submitted the application at 9.35 am on the morning of the incident and also deposited the fee. However, the application was rejected by our department.”
The development has raised questions as the application and fee submission were processed despite MCD’s announcement that the health trade licence for this category had been deregulated and the portal was being made inactive as part of the transition process.
Sources in MCD also said that the Hauz Rani B&B was surveyed by MCD officials about eight months ago and the team found that a full-scale restaurant was being run from the premises in violation of licence norms that allow no seating. Despite the findings, no action was taken.
Following the fire incident on Wednesday, MCD did a preliminary survey in the area and identified 12 hotels that allegedly violated health trade licence norms.
An official said that since these properties are in Lal Dora areas and were constructed 14–15 years ago, the civic body was treating these as protected under the Centre’s Special Provisions Act, making action against the structures difficult.
However, an official in the building department pointed out that immunity under this provision applies only to residential structures. “In this case, the building was being used for commercial purposes. It exceeded the permissible height of 9 metres and was operating without a fire NOC. Further, the MPD mandates a minimum opening of 1.5 metres by 1.5 metres on every floor, positioned 1.2 metres above the floor and facing the mandatory open space as well as the road side. These provisions were not complied with,” the official said.
“In this case, the B&B was allegedly being misused as a hotel, with a restaurant operating on the ground floor,” a source said.
Vibha Sharma serves as an Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of...
Read MoreVibha Sharma serves as an Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, having dedicated 18 years to journalism. She has carved a niche in civic affairs and urban infrastructure reporting, delving into the fundamental aspects of urban administration, including sanitation, taxation, city planning, infrastructure and environmental sustainability, while examining Delhi's grassroots operations. As a veteran civic journalist, her reporting illuminates the daily urban challenges confronting Delhi, encompassing municipal taxation frameworks, circular economy, infrastructure enhancement and land utilisation regulations.
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