Bill on fire safety NOC passed in Karnataka Assembly

The Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a Bill requiring citizens to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Fire and Emergency Services Department to construct a high-rise building measuring 21 metres or above in height. 

The Karnataka Fire Force (Amendment) Bill was passed without any debate.

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Piloting the Bill, Home Minister G Parameshwara said the Bill is in line with the National Building Code (NBC) of 2016.  "So far, there is no system in place to obtain NOC for high-rise buildings above 15 m. Out of 19,294 cases, there are violations in 15,924 cases such as not having taken permission among others," he said. 

"As per the NBC, we are required to raise the height of high-rise buildings to 25 m. Also, we're making NOC compulsory," Parameshwara said. 

The Bill will replace an ordinance that the previous BJP government had promulgated in March this year. 

Road Safety Authority 

The Karnataka State Road Safety Authority (Amendment) Bill was also passed without any debate in the House. 

The Bill proposes to bring the BBMP under the Authority's ambit. The Bill has a clause making it binding for officers to obey directions issued by the Authority. Also, the Bill allows the Authority to raise funds for the Karnataka State Road Safety Funds through "other means of resource mobilisation".