Gandhinagar: Five years after confusion over fire safety responsibilities left industries in administrative limbo, Gujarat govt has designated a single department to oversee the job. The urban development department will now regulate fire safety and issue fire NOCs for factories across the state.The decision applies to all factories, whether they are located within municipal limits or outside them, senior officials said. Until now, uncertainty over whether the UDD or the labour department was responsible for enforcing fire safety norms had left a gap in oversight, raising concerns over industrial safety.“The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the chief secretary. The labour department will continue to look after industrial safety measures,” a senior official said. A formal govt notification detailing the new arrangement is expected shortly.Under the new framework, the UDD will ensure that industrial units install mandatory firefighting systems and obtain valid fire NOCs. The labour department will continue to oversee workplace safety, accident prevention, and compliance with industrial safety regulations.Officials said the overlapping responsibilities had created uncertainty over enforcement since 2021, affecting fire safety compliance in factories.
Gujarat urban development department to check fire NOCs
To strengthen enforcement, govt will set up a dedicated industrial fire safety wing within the UDD. Municipal corporations will also create separate industrial and non-industrial fire service divisions with dedicated personnel, specialised firefighting equipment and supporting infrastructure. State govt will provide additional financial assistance for the expansion, an official said.Gujarat has more than 51,000 registered factories, making it one of India’s most industrialised states.The confusion dates back to a govt resolution issued by the UDD in Feb 2021. The resolution stated that the labour department would oversee fire safety in industrial units on the grounds that factories, irrespective of their location, did not fall within the UDD’s jurisdiction.Officials, however, acknowledged that the labour department lacked firefighting equipment, specialised machinery and trained personnel needed to enforce fire safety standards or respond to industrial fires. Its role has largely been limited to monitoring workplace safety and preventing industrial accidents rather than inspecting firefighting systems or enforcing fire safety compliance.Industry representatives welcomed govt’s decision but urged it to quickly operationalise the fire NOC system by issuing clear installation standards or introducing a self-certification mechanism. They said repeated factory fires this year had caused deaths, injuries and heavy financial losses while industries struggled to demonstrate compliance because fire NOCs were not being issued.Ajit Shah, president of the Sanand Industries Association (SIA), said the decision would remove a major compliance hurdle. “For five years, there has been no fire NOC system. Buyers ask for it,” he said.The association has also renewed its demand for a dedicated fire station inside the Sanand industrial estate. “We submitted our proposal to GIDC, but there has been no progress. With this new system in place, fire safety should improve,” Shah said. He added that only two fire tenders currently serve the estate and together respond to around 35 fire calls every year.Girish Patel, president of the Chhatral GIDC Industries Association, said the industrial estate has nearly 2,000 units and frequently reports fire incidents. “We depend on fire services from Kadi or Kalol,” Patel said, adding that a functioning fire NOC system and stricter monitoring are urgently needed.
