New Delhi, Oct. 1 -- The Delhi Fire Service has rejected fire safety clearance for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan on Janpath Road, citing unresolved safety shortcomings in the basement, including damaged fire-check doors and unauthorised temporary rooms and partitions without firefighting systems.

The department said the issues identified during an earlier inspection had not been rectified.

In a letter dated September 25, the fire department said the premises was inspected by fire department officials on August 29 in the presence of a representative of the MEA. The inspection found that two shortcomings, which had been pointed out during an earlier inspection, had not been rectified.

The ...