Amresh Parab
Panaji
Over the last five years, the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has issued 11,789 fire safety No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to commercial establishments, including restaurants, beach shacks, hotels, guest houses, resorts and homestays.
Data provided by DFES to the government indicates that between 2021 and 2025, as many as 7,617 NOCs were issued to guest houses and 2,716 to restaurants. During the same period, 760 NOCs were issued to hotels, 650 to beach shacks, 37 to resorts and nine to homestays.
Incidentally, DFES does not have information on nightclubs operating without fire safety NOCs, and there is also no specific information available on suo motu inspections of commercial establishments conducted by the department.
According to the data, fire safety NOCs are issued on receipt of applications from owners or occupiers duly authorised by the local authority.
The data further states that there is no specific provision under the Fire Force Act, 1986, and the Rules, 1997, for the imposition of a monetary penalty for operating without a fire safety NOC. In the wake of the Arpora fire incident, in which 25 lives were lost, DFES issued a circular stating that all occupancies and establishments must implement fire and life safety guidelines.
The advisories are derived from notifications issued by the relevant departments mandating the installation and maintenance of fire protection systems for specified occupancies, DFES said. It also said that the guidelines represent minimum safety measures and that occupancies and establishments must comply with any additional requirements issued by DFES or other competent authorities, depending on the nature and degree of fire hazard involved.
As per DFES data, 75 scrapyards located across the state do not possess fire safety NOCs. Since 2023, fire incidents have been reported at four scrapyards located at Dhavali, Navelim and Sancoale in 2023, and most recently on December 12, 2025, at a scrapyard in the IDC Verna area, government data revealed. DFES conducted inspections of 22 scrapyards between December 13 and 16, 2025, though the dates of inspection of other scrapyards have not been mentioned in the data submitted to the government. Following these inspections, DFES submitted details of nine scrapyards in Quepem taluka to the Deputy Collector, Quepem, while in other cases there is no mention of reports being submitted to the deputy collectors concerned.
