The issue of fire safety, especially of those living in the high-rise buildings in the city, has reached the Gujarat High Court with an Ahmedabad resident filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for the implementation of fire safety norms.

The petitioner has stated that out of 1,300 such buildings in the city, around 900 do not have proper fire safety norms under the National Building Code, which can lead to a grave disaster in these structures.

Acting on the PIL — filed by Prakash Nambiar through his lawyer Amit Panchal — Justice M R Shah has issued notices to five respondent authorities, seeking reply by June 29.

The respondents are State of Gujarat, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), Chief Fire Officer of AMC and Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).

The petitioner has stated that despite various directions by the High Court and the Supreme Court, the authorities have failed to implement proper fire safety measurements at the high-rise buildings.

It has also been stated that out of the 12 fire stations in the city, two do not have residential quarters where the fire station staff can reside and deal with fire and emergency services in the event of immediate need.

Further, despite proposals to set up six more fire stations in the city, no action was taken.

According to Nambiar, the city is spread over an area of about 466 sq km and is home to over 60 lakh people. And for the said area and population, the requirement of pumping units is 240, but the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) has only 40 such units. Similarly, the required number of rescue vehicles for the city is around 60, but the AFES has only five.