LUCKNOW, May 22 -- After a gap of nearly three years, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) will soon issue fresh notices to around 27 hotels located in the heart of the city owing to glaring negligence in fire safety compliance. The move comes after a fire incident at Mohan Hotel in Charbagh on Sunday night. Most of these hotels continue to operate openly, despite having no valid fire no objection certificates (NOCs). An HT report published on May 21 (Only 93 city hotels fire-safe, rest ticking bombs) revealed that only 93 out of 2,600 hotels, guest houses, and restaurants operating in the state capital have a valid fire no-objection certificate (NOC), as per the Uttar Pradesh Fire Department. These 27 hotels, which will get fresh notices, are located in Lalbagh, Wazirganj, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Qaiserbagh, Arya Nagar (Naka), Vidhan Sabha Road, Rani Laxmi Bai Road (near Parivartan Chowk), Mall Avenue, BN Road, Ashok Marg, Rana Pratap Marg, Latouche Road, and AP Sen Road (Hussainganj). When contacted, LDA vice-chairperson Prathamesh Kumar confirmed that action against the 27 hotels is pending but assured that steps will now be taken. "We will re-inspect the properties, verify their maps and illegal constructions, and re-issue notices," he said. The notices were first issued to these hotels after a devastating fire at Hotel Levana Suites claimed four lives in Lucknow on September 5, 2022. The LDA could not take decisive action against these establishments back then as they approached the higher authorities, appealing for reconsideration of notices for sealing. But now the LDA has decided to reevaluate the maps and fire NOCs. "The delay happened because files related to these hotels were not being properly presented before the zonal in-charges," an LDA official told HT on condition of anonymity. "In many cases, the LDA clerical staff failed to bring up files for final approval, which stalled the sealing process." The authority first registered a case and then started serving sealing notices on 27 hotels across multiple city areas after the Levana Suites incident, but these establishments kept functioning by challenging the order before higher authorities, according to an official. Though 95% of sealing orders were passed on January 20, 2023, no major crackdown followed. For three of the 27 properties, LDA even passed demolition orders, the official stated....