2 years on, fire detection system at NIA headquarters defunct

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) has refused to grant the fire safety certificate to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters at the CGO Complex in the capital, flagging serious lapses, including a non-functional “fire detection system”, on all floors.

The building, inaugurated in 2017, houses India’s top counter-terror body but, according to DFS records, has been operating without basic fire safeguards for nearly two years.

A DFS inspection in December 2023 first raised alarms. "The automatic fire detection system was found non-functional on all floors. In an office on the 6th floor, even the detectors cover was not removed,” the letter read.

The same letter also flagged a non-working basement ventilation system, piled-up waste, defective hose reels, and a dead diesel fire pump.

Nearly two years later, a fresh communication dated September 24, 2025, shows nothing has changed.

"This is with reference to your letter…received in this department …dated 31/07/2025. In this connection, it is to inform you that the premise was re-visited by the officer concerned of this department on 15/09/2025 in the presence of Veer Singh (Inspector), NIA, HQ, to verify the compliance of shortcomings issued by this office...and observed that the shortcomings are not yet complied with,” the letter read.

Similarly, the IIT Delhi hostel plan was rejected after the fire department observed that the proposed design did not include a six-metre-wide road with a nine-metre turning radius for fire tender movement, a fire tower and direct access to the fire pump room.

The rejection of these plans underscores the growing scrutiny of public and institutional buildings in the city, where fire safety measures are increasingly being seen as non-negotiable in the wake of repeated fire incidents.