Getting NOC easier now

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 10

Getting a no objection certificate (NOC) for buildings or other establishments from the Fire Department of the Municipal Corporation will no longer be a tedious task. The civic body has centralised the process of receiving and issuing the NOC.

Sources said Additional Commissioner and Chief Fire Officer of the Municipal Corporation Uma Shankar Gupta had proposed to adopt the new system for simplifying the entire process.

Gupta said they were awaiting the Municipal Commissioner’s nod. He said under the new system, all applications would be compiled at one place and disposed of on a merit basis.

“On meeting all requirements, the applicants will get a call from the officer to collect the same,” Gupta added.

The applications will be disposed of at the level of station fire officers and the Chief Fire Officer’s approval will not be required.

An officer of the department said at present, the applications were being received at different levels and there was no system to monitor them centrally. After a check, files for issuing the NOC were sent to the Chief Fire Officer for approval. Gupta said as the issuance of NOCs was the job of technical experts, there was no need to send the files to the officer.

He said in the next step, the department would start accepting the applications online on the MC portal. A fire NOC is issued by an authority designated as the Fire Officer as per provisions of the fire-safety measures mentioned in the National Building Code rules. Making the procedure simple is also one of the agendas of the Government of India for promoting ease of doing business to establish industries.

Process centralised

The MC has centralised the process of receiving and issuing the NOCs. It is also mulling over going online. The applications will be disposed of  at the level of station fire officers and the Chief Fire Officer’s approval will not be required.