Chapter I PRELIMINARY

Short title, extent and commencement :

1. (1) This Act may be called the Arunachal Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services Act, 2026.
2. (2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Arunachal Pradesh.
3. (3) It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Definition : In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires :

1. (a) “The 1st Appellate Authority” means the Director General of Police, Arunachal Pradesh or an Officer appointed by Director General of Police. The 2nd Appellate Authority means an Officer appointed by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
2. (b) “Building” shall have the same meaning assigned to it in the relevant municipal law or any law for the time being in force in the area in which this Act is in force and includes places or premises comprising land or building, or part of a land or building, whether authorized or otherwise, out houses, if any, pertaining to such building or part thereof and petrol, diesel or gas lines, installations or pumps;
3. (c) “Building bye-laws” means the “Arunachal Pradesh Building Bye-laws- 2019”.
4. (d) “Bye Laws” means fire safety regulations or norms or guidelines made under National Building Code of India Part-IV (Fire and Life Safety), Oil Industry Safety Directorate Guidelines, Petroleum Act and Rules, Explosive Act and Rules of India relating to Fire prevention or any relevant guidelines by the Government or local Authority;
5. (e) “Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS)” means BIS functioning under the control of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.
6. (f) “Director” means the Director, Arunachal Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services appointed by Government under Section 6 of this Act ;
7. (g) “Executive Magistrate” means an officer of the Government appointed as Executive Magistrate under sub-section

1. (4) of Section 14 of the BNSS, 2023.
   • (h) “Erector of pandal” means a person or an association of persons, whether corporate or otherwise, who erects or makes a pandal or any structure for occupation of people on a regular or temporary basis ;
     • (i) “Fire prevention and Life Safety Measures” means such measures as are necessary in accordance with the building bye-laws/National Building Code of India for the containment, control and extinguishing of fire and for ensuring the safety of life and property in case of fire and as may be prescribed in the rules made in this behalf ;
   • (j) “Fire Safety Officer” means the person appointed under Section 28 of this Act as Fire safety officer by the owners and occupiers of certain premises and buildings as specified by notification in this behalf to ensure fire prevention and fire safety measures installed in such premises and buildings ;
   • (k) “Fire Officer” means an officer appointed by the State for Fire Stations and other field formations as per the Section 12 of this Act ;
   • (l) “Fire Service” means the Arunachal Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services constituted under Section 3 of this Act ;
   • (m) “Fire station” means a building erected to house the firefighting equipment, appliances and staff declared generally or specially by the State Government to be a Fire Station and other field formations as defined in Section 3 of this Act ;
   • (n) “Fund” means Fund constituted under Section 59 of this Act ;
   • (o) “Government” means the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
   • (p) “Local authority” means a Municipality council/Municipal corporation (wherever available), Nagar Panchayat, District Panchayat, Gram Panchayat, or any other authority constituted under relevant local authority law;
   • (q) “Member” in relation to the Fire and Emergency Service means a person appointed to the Fire and Emergency Services of Arunachal Pradesh under this Act;
   • (r) “Multi-storey Building” means a building with such minimum height as may be prescribed under the rules in this behalf and notified to the Director by the local authority; “National Building Code “ means the book containing Fire prevention and life safety measures to be implemented in the buildings, places, premises, workshops, warehouses and industries published from time to time by the Bureau of Indian Standards;
   • (t) “Nominated Officer” means an Officer possessing the prescribed qualifications and nominated by the Director and includes an officer nominated by the Government or a local authority or a planning authority for the purposes of this Act. Provided that for the areas not covered by any Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council, the Director shall nominate an officer to be “a nominated officer” and different such officers may be nominated for different areas.
   • (u) “Occupancy” means the principal occupancy for which a building or a part of a building is used or intended to be used including subsidiary occupancies which are contingent upon it ;
     • (v) “Occupier” means any person who, for the time being, is paying or is liable to pay, to the owner the rent or any portion of the rent of the land or building in respect of which such rent is paid or is payable ;
     • (i) an owner in occupation of, or otherwise using his land or building;
     • (ii) a rent free tenant of any land or building;
     • (iii) a licensee in occupation of any land or building; and
     • (iv) any person who is liable to pay to the owner damages for the use and occupation of any land or building ;
   • (w) “Owner” includes a person who, for the time being, is entitled to receive, the rent of any land or building, whether on his own account or on account of himself and others or as an agent, trustee, guardian or receiver or any other person, or who should so receive the rent or been titled to receive it if the land or building or part thereof were let to a tenant;
     • (x) ”Pandal” means a temporary structure with roof or walls made of straw, hay, ulu grass, golpatta, hogla, darma, mat, canvas, cloth or other like material which is not adopted for permanent or continuous occupancy;
   • (y) ”Premises” means any land or any building or part of a building and includes the garden, ground and out house, if any, appurtenant to a building or part of a building; and any land or any building or part of a building appurtenant thereto which is used for storing explosives, explosive substance and dangerously inflammable substance; Explanation : - In this clause, “explosive”, “explosive substance” and “dangerously inflammable substance” shall have the meaning, respectively assigned to them in the Explosive Act, 1884 (4 of 1884), the Explosive (Substances) Act, 1908 (6 of 1908) and the inflammable Substances Act, (20 of 1952).
   • (z) “Relevant municipal law” means any law framed by a Municipal Corporation or a Municipal Council.
   • (za) “Prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
   • (zb) “Prescribed authority” means authority prescribed by rules under this Act.
   • (zc) “Rules” means rules made under this Act.
   • (zd) “Standing Fire Advisory Council”
   • (SFAC) means the advisory body constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to examine the technical problems relating to fire service and to make recommendation to the Government of India in the matter including the standardization of fire fighting equipments through the Indian Standard Institutions to sensitize the same to State Fire Service.
   • (ze) “State” means the State of Arunachal Pradesh;
   • (zf) “Station Officer” means an officer of the Fire and Emergency Service appointed as station officer by the Government.
   • (zg) “Subordinate operational staff” includes every member of the Fire and Emergency Service of the rank of fireman, leading fireman, driver and any other equivalent rank;