India, Oct. 3 -- The fire department last week refused to issue a fire safety certificate to the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) headquarters, Vikas Sadan, in INA Colony in south Delhi, mentioning at least 11 shortcomings that are possible fire hazards in the building. Vikas Sadan has not had a fire no-objection certificate for the last five years, a fire department official said.

Officials said that DDA has not been able to rectify the shortcomings despite multiple inspections over the last five years. The last inspection was conducted on September 13, following which a letter denying the fire safety certificate was issued on September 25.

DDA said it has proactively upgraded its firefighting system, and the Delhi Fire Services has...