Fire Services chief warns staff against taking bribe

“We have been receiving complaints about officials taking cash or things to issue or renewal of NOC. So we decided to issue a warning against such acts,” noted DGP K P Maghendhran, director, TN fire and rescue services, when DT Next contacted him. 

“The director, who joined recently, has been receiving complaints through phone calls and as well as via petitions that fire officials are asking for bribe to issue licences and NOC. That is why he issued the warning,” disclosed a senior TNFRS official, accepting the fact that accepting bribe for such purposes had long prevailed in the department. 

Whether they conduct fire audit or not, they issue necessary documents only after collecting the bribe, the official added. “We have decided to direct complaints received against officials to Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption for further action and possible trap/ arrest,” DGP Maghendhran added. Once arrested by the DVAC, the officials will be placed under suspension.  

“Seeking such bribes from schools every year for renewal of NOC is such a shameful act. Please stop doing it,” the director told in his circular. There will be severe departmental action against those who demand bribe for issuing NOC to schools, apartment complexes, hotels, lodges, factories, offices, commercial complexes etc in the coming days. Instead of demanding bribe, the officers should do a transparent job of fire auditing and act accordingly, the official noted.

For non multi-storeyed buildings, the processing time for NOC and fire licence is 15 days, while for multi-storeyed building, it is 30 days. For compliance certificate, the TNFRS takes 30 days. As per the TNFRS records, there are only 106 buildings in north Chennai, 95 in south Chennai and 46 structures that do not comply with the fire safety requirements. TNFRS manages a total of 301 fire stations across the state