Major push soon to ensure hotel security
2 min readPatna: The district administration will issue guidelines to hotels in the city on installing CCTV cameras and safety measures, on the lines of instructions district magistrate Kumar Ravi gave when he was posted in Gaya.
Seven to eight guidelines will be issued to the hotels for increase in surveillance and round-the-clock watch on public places in the city.
The guidelines include complaint boxes in hotels, installation of CCTV cameras both in and around hotel premises, fire-fighting equipment, trained guards, parking for visitors, arrangement to fight for natural calamities, and first aid boxes.
Ravi who implemented the Sarais Act, 1867, in Gaya, asking hotel owners in Gaya and Bodhgaya to register under provisions of the legislation, will issue similar instructions to hotel authorities in Patna. “Hotels operating in Patna must register with the Sarais Act, 1867. Safety and security of visitors is important and hotels must have CCTV cameras on the premises – both inside and outside hotels,” said Ravi. “We expect the hotels in Patna to register themselves under the act and follow the instructions, but the district administration will carry out checks.”
Sources said there are many low- or middle-rated hotels in Patna, especially near Patna Junction, Hotel Gali and Patna City, that don’t have any CCTV cameras.
Last April, a decomposed body of a middle-aged man was recovered from a hotel room on Fraser Road.
The deceased was identified as Ranjan Kumar, who the hotel authorities claimed, received visitors a couple of times. But there was no evidence because the hotel’s CCTV cameras were not functional.
Under the Sarais Act, though, hotel owners would have to store the CCTV camera footage for at least six months.
As part of the legislation, hotel owners also have to declare they have proper fire safety arrangements, and that the establishments have taken care to supply potable water to the boarders and hygienic conditions are maintained. The act also ensures there is arrangement for sufficient lights in the hotel and only commercial liquefied petroleum gas connections are used.
Sources said the district administration, apart from assessing facilities for visitors, is focused on their safety and security.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
