80% of Delhi unplanned, fire preparedness ‘average’: Chief Fire Officer

Around 80% of Delhi is unplanned and only about 5% of its buildings have Occupancy Certificates, Delhi Fire Services Chief Fire Officer A.K. Malik said on Tuesday, underlining the scale of the city’s fire-safety challenges. 

In an interaction with The Hindu, Mr. Malik described Delhi’s fire preparedness as “average”, saying its fire risks had grown faster than its capacity to prevent and respond to them. Unplanned construction, poor compliance with building by-laws, congested roads and changing fire risks were among the biggest challenges. 

Delhi has more than 1,000 unauthorised colonies, and much of the construction in the city has not followed building by-laws introduced in 1957 and revised in 1983 and 2016. “Buildings in unplanned areas often do not come before the building authorities for approval and, consequently, do not reach the Fire Department for the required fire-safety clearances,” Mr. Malik said. 

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The responsibility for ensuring that buildings are constructed and occupied according to approved plans primarily lies with the building authorities. Under Rule 34, the Fire Department inspects specified categories of buildings and ensures compliance with prescribed fire-safety measures. 

Third-party certification 

The government has begun implementing third-party fire-safety certification following a notification issued on May 26. Mr. Malik said its impact was yet to be assessed. Of the 36,000 calls attended by the Fire Department in 2024-25, only 1% came from buildings that had been issued Fire Safety Certificates by the department. 

He said third-party agencies would need to be properly registered and selected on the basis of experience and competence. 

Capacity gap 

Delhi has 71 fire stations against a requirement of 120 and around 2,500 firefighters against a requirement of more than 12,000. The department plans to add 9,000 firefighters and increase the number of fire stations to 120 over the next five years. 

Eight sites already have land available, while 14 more have been identified with the Delhi Development Authority. The department has sought another 23 locations and received gram sabha land for seven stations in urban villages, subject to approval. 

It has also proposed a 25-year technology plan covering drones, computerised dispatch systems and other technological upgrades. 

Response time 

Traffic and narrow lanes remain major obstacles to achieving the prescribed five-minute response time. The department has deployed 24 Quick Response Vehicles, with another 26 to be deployed shortly and 50 more proposed. 

At the same time, the window for escaping a fire has shortened. In modern homes, lower ceilings, fewer ventilators and greater use of combustible synthetic materials have reduced the estimated fire flashover window from 17-18 minutes to three to five minutes, Mr. Malik said. 

Departmental data indicate that sprinklers and fire detectors could reduce deaths in fire incidents by around 97%. The government has approved their mandatory use in principle and the Fire Department has proposed incorporating the requirement into the building by-laws. 

Mr. Malik said this could bring Delhi’s annual fire deaths down from around 100 to three or four. 

He also identified fires in buildings with stilt parking as an emerging risk. Such structures can have significant fire loads at the stilt level and, in some cases, with only one staircase, leaving occupants with limited escape options if smoke blocks the route. 

Public awareness also remains critical, Mr. Malik said. “People should know the location of emergency exits, how to use staircases and evacuate safely, and what not to do during a fire.” He said “fire safety” awareness should extend beyond people formally trained by the department and become a wider public habit.