A new Act being drawn up will streamline the maintenance and the operation of lifts, escalators and conveyors

The Delhi government has only two lift inspectors to keep an eye on 10,000 lifts that operate in a city which is growing vertical by the day. But with a new law being put into place, things might just look up.

The reason why there are just two inspectors at present is because the Labour department follows the archaic Bombay Lift Act, 1939. This Act did not foresee the exponential growth of lifts and hence did not feel the need to recruit more lift inspectors for their maintenance.

Worse still, the Lift Act does not have any provision for the upkeep of escalators and conveyor pathways. “These concepts did not exist in 1939, so we have no formal laws and guidelines for them,” said a senior official from the Labour department.

In an attempt to replace the old Act, the department is now in the process of drafting a new law for the Capital called the Delhi Lift Act, which will have specific guidelines for both elevators and escalators and will also form a select panel of experts to carry out lift and escalator inspections.

Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta said: “The future of the city’s buildings is going vertical and lifts already have become an integral part of all commercial and residential buildings. We have initiated a process of increasing the number of lift inspectors.”

The department is looking at creating 36 positions for this panel that will also give permissions for installing lifts. “People will have to register themselves online and our panel of experts will issue permissions to install and operate these lifts,” a department official said.

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