Uttar Pradesh Lifts and Escalators Bill 2024: Here’s Why Highly-Anticipated Lift Law by Yogi Adityanath-led Government is Likely to be Ineffective
With every draft version, the proposed lift law—which has been the subject of years of discussion due to an increase in lift accidents, many of which have been fatal—has lost much of its regulatory punch and deterrent power.
Lucknow, January 13: Significantly, after years of debate and discussion, the long-awaited law in Uttar Pradesh intended to control the operation of elevators and lifts in order to guarantee the safety of users of vertical transportation is about to lose its bite. After Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the draft with some changes in a meeting a few days ago, the state government is preparing to present the Uttar Pradesh Lifts and Escalators Bill, 2024 in the upcoming budget session of the state legislature next month, according to people aware of the development.
However, because the criminal measures that were previously included in the draft are being removed to prevent instilling fear in anyone who would be held accountable for a lift failure or accident in the state, the new law is likely to be essentially meaningless. Lucknow Students Stuck in Lift Video: 12 Children Get Trapped in Elevator of Coaching Centre in Hazratganj, Rescued by Fire Department Personnel.
The final version of the bill will not include any provisions for fines or jail, even though the previous draft did, an official told the Hindustan Times. According to him, the chief minister had recently requested that the energy department, which is writing the legislation, remove the clause that would have allowed for a sanction to be imposed on any agency found to have violated rules and caused a lift accident.
Section 146 of the Electricity Act, 2003 stipulates that each infraction might result in a prison sentence of up to three months, a fine of up to one lakh rupees, or both. This provision is still there in the draft legislation that is now undergoing revision. Student Stuck in Lift in Uttar Pradesh Video: Minor Girl Gets Trapped in Elevator of Apartment in Lucknow for 20 Minutes, Screams and Pleads for Help; CCTV Clip of Incident Surfaces.
With every draft version, the proposed lift law—which has been the subject of years of discussion due to an increase in lift accidents, many of which have been fatal—has lost much of its regulatory punch and deterrent power. And this raises issues regarding the efficacy of the legislation when it kicks off in the state.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 13, 2024 01:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).