CHANDIGARH, Sept 7— Five years after three girl students died in a blaze at a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Sector 32, compliance with Chandigarh’s stricter safety norms remains poor, with hundreds of PGs operating without registration or fire clearance.
According to administration figures, the city has over 500 PGs, but only 107 are officially registered, and just 66 have obtained fire no-objection certificates (NOCs).
“Most PGs run in private homes and thus the requirements of fire safety equipment and building layout approvals are extremely difficult to meet. The process needs to be simplified if we want more compliance,” said Chandigarh Residents’ Welfare Association Federation (CRAWFED) chairman Hitesh Puri.
Officials admit the oversight system is fragmented. Rajeev Tiwari, assistant estate officer, said the estate office is the nodal body for registrations, but coordination remains weak. “Since there is no single online portal for PG registrations, it is difficult to keep track of applications that get sent to multiple required departments,” he said.
Students say the lack of registration leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. Jahanavi Sisodia, an MA student at Panjab University, recalled a PG owner in Sector 15 who double-booked her accommodation. “He even took payments from both of us and on the day I was supposed to move in, he told me the room had been allotted to another girl,” she said. With no rental agreement, Sisodia was left helpless.
Diya Banchta, an MBBS intern living in Sector 34, said many PGs charge rents comparable to flat shares “but with none of the formal agreements or safety checks in place.”
PG owners argue that the system is too onerous. “We have to run to multiple offices for approvals, hire architects to redraw building plans and spend lakhs on retrofitting. Most of us would rather operate quietly than go through the ruckus,” said one PG operator in Sector 34, requesting anonymity. Another owner in Sector 15 added that a “single-window system might make the process easier and doable.”
The PG registration policy was first introduced in 2006 with 13 conditions. Following the 2020 Sector 32 fire tragedy, four more clauses were added, including mandatory sprinkler systems, fire extinguishers, exit signage and dedicated water tanks, as well as a compulsory fire department NOC before operations.
Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said unregistered PGs are under scrutiny. “All PGs that are illegally running their business and violating the norms laid out by the estate office are strictly being looked at by the sub-divisional magistrate’s court,” he said. However, he acknowledged inspections are mostly complaint-driven. “I receive three to four complaints from the neighbours of these PGs per day,” Yadav added.
