The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the devastating Aliganj fire tragedy that claimed 15 lives on June 22 has entered the report-writing stage. Its members are holding marathon deliberations at Paryatan Bhavan, the headquarters of the tourism department, to finalise what officials described as a comprehensive blueprint for fixing accountability and plugging systemic gaps in urban safety regulation.The fire-ravaged buiding in Aliganj, Lucknow. (HT FILE PHOTO)Senior officials familiar with the proceedings said the two-member SIT, comprising Amrit Abhijat, additional chief secretary (Tourism), and Praveen Kumar, additional director general of police (Lucknow zone), is in the process of drafting its final report, which is expected to be submitted to the Uttar Pradesh government within the coming week.Sources said beyond identifying the immediate cause of the blaze, the report is likely to recommend significant changes in existing fire safety and building regulations after the inquiry revealed multiple shortcomings in enforcement, inter-departmental coordination and electrical safety compliance.One of the key recommendations under consideration is reducing the height threshold for mandatory fire No Objection Certificate (NOC) requirements from the existing 15 metres to 12 metres.Officials associated with the exercise said the proposal stems from the panel’s assessment that several commercial establishments operating in buildings below the present threshold remain outside the mandatory fire clearance regime despite posing substantial risks because of their occupancy and usage patterns.According to officials, the inquiry has also highlighted glaring coordination failures among government departments responsible for regulating urban development and commercial establishments.Investigators found that the plot on which the affected building stood continued to be recorded as residential in the records of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA), while the Lucknow Municipal Corporation had been collecting commercial taxes from the establishment for years.Despite this apparent mismatch, the civic body allegedly did not flag the change in land use or commercial activity to the LDA for necessary regulatory action.“The inquiry has pointed to serious communication gaps between agencies that function independently but regulate different aspects of the same property,” a senior official familiar with the deliberations said. “Such disconnects allowed regulatory inconsistencies to continue unchecked.”The SIT has also examined alleged electrical safety violations that, officials believe, may have aggravated the disaster. According to sources, investigators found indications that electricity consumption at the premises substantially exceeded the sanctioned load.Preliminary findings suggest that against a sanctioned electricity connection of around 20 kilowatts, the actual connected load and usage may have touched nearly 40 kilowatts. Officials said the report is expected to recommend stricter monitoring of connected loads, mandatory reporting of excess consumption and better coordination between power utilities and regulatory agencies whenever significant deviations are detected.The inquiry has further questioned the effectiveness of periodic electrical safety inspections. Sources said the SIT found no evidence of comprehensive electrical safety audits being conducted despite the commercial nature of the establishment. The report is likely to recommend compulsory periodic electrical audits for commercial buildings and stronger enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance.Officials said the panel has spent several hours over the past two days scrutinising documents, inspection reports and departmental submissions during closed-door meetings at Paryatan Bhavan, where members have been consolidating findings received from the LDA, LMC, Directorate of Electrical Safety, Fire Department, district administration, Lucknow police and forensic experts.The report is expected to recommend not only criminal and departmental action wherever negligence is established, but also structural reforms to improve information sharing between departments, strengthen enforcement of land-use regulations, tighten electrical safety oversight and modernise fire safety norms in rapidly urbanising cities.Government officials said the SIT report is likely to become the principal policy document guiding both legal proceedings arising from the Aliganj fire tragedy and future reforms aimed at preventing similar disasters across Uttar Pradesh.