Notice was issued to the organisers before the show

As the curtains came down on Aero India 2019 on Sunday, investigations into the major fire in which 300 vehicles were gutted at the parking lot on Saturday have revealed that the organisers — the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) — had not obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Department, which is mandatory as per guidelines.

Sources said the HAL failed to obtain an NOC despite a notice issued to the organisers a day before the event. Usually, organisers of major events approach the Fire Department seeking an NOC, but despite having a detailed plan for the event, the organisers did not approach the Fire and Emergency Service personnel for the NOC, an official from the Fire Department said.

Notice issued

On February 19, a team of officials from the Fire and Emergency Services visited the aero show venue and inspected the area before issuing a notice to the organisers to comply with fire-safety norms, sources said.

The organisers had taken control over the on-site area, including the parking lots, which according to them, comes under the purview of Ministry of Defence, fire officials said.

The organisers asked the police to take care of the off-site area, which includes maintaining law and order and traffic outside the venue.

However considering the public involvement in the on-site area, we decided to venture into the boundary and planned the deployment accordingly, said a fire official.

“Though there were 37 fire tenders deployed at the venue, the organisers did not allow fire tenders to enter inside the Yelahanka Air Base and forced us to park the fire tenders outside the compound. They said they had their own vehicles and would manage with them. But still, we parked two fire tenders at Gate no.5. Soon after the vehicles caught fire, the fire tenders rushed to the spot and started dousing the fire,” fire officials said.