Bhardwaj claimed that the incident was not isolated in nature and firm action was required against officials in order to prevent repeated fire incidents in the national capital.

As per officials’ statements, the DHO is the primary contact for issuing and managing Health Trade Licenses. The office manages the responsibility of evaluating uploaded documents and issuing licenses for establishments that fall in line with health and fire safety norms.

Also Read: After twin tragedies in south Delhi, MCD launches demolition, sealing drive

Since the illegal B&B facility, Flourish Stay, was operating on an expired ‘tea and snacks license’, a notice has been issued to the concerned authorities. The establishment reportedly applied for a renewal of the license on June 3, the day of the fire which claimed 22 lives, but the appeal was rejected.

“The same district health officer who was involved in the Malviya Nagar incident is the one who was responsible in the Arpit Hotel fire incident a few years back,” Bharadwaj alleged as per news agency PTI. “MCD should take strict action against the ‘corrupt’ official, and he should be sent to jail. There have been several incidents, but strong action is still awaited.”

Also Read: Delhi did not learn lessons from 2019 hotel fire that killed 17 people

At the time, the fire incident had prompted authorities to introduce stricter rules for such establishments by rolling out a provision which required all floors above the third level to be demolished in order to get a fire permit.

“The fire department cannot issue an NOC to any guest house or lodging facility that has more than four floors, does not have ventilation in each floor, corridor, or passage or does not submit a blueprint of every floor to the department,” a May 2022 order read.

The mandate, however, was rolled back three months later in September by shifting to an affidavit-based mechanism, which simply required agencies to obtain an “affidavit from the hotel owners that such spaces will not be used for any use which violates norms”.

Also Read: Arpit Palace hotel fire: Screams woke up guests, charred bodies on every floor

A departmental investigation is currently ongoing in the Malviya Nagar fire incident at a Delhi court (Saket court complex) amid a recent plea by an advocate to the Delhi High Court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.