New Delhi: The government has asked the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to remove and modify some key provisions of the National Building Code (NBC) by the end of April. These include changes to sections relating to fire safety, which experts say will “weaken” conditions critical to public safety.TOI has learned that these changes are being made following instructions from the deregulation cell under the Cabinet Secretariat, which said that rules governing land and buildings are state subjects and state governments and urban local bodies deal with these issues. People aware of the development said SAIL is also of the view that fire safety and its regulation falls under state authority and the provision of NBC, along with the requirements of consultants, increases the cost.Recently, the Cabinet Secretariat intervened to withdraw the revised 2025 BIS seismic zoning map after the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs flagged the cost overruns, technical complexity and lack of stakeholder consultation of metro rail projects. Sources said there was a direction from the Cabinet Secretariat to BIS to withdraw the draft standards “immediately”.“In the case of NBC, most of the changes sought by the deregulation cell have been proposed in the updated NBC. However, it is also being presented why there is a need to continue with the provisions related to fire safety as it is directly linked to life and public safety. There is no scientific data to prove that there is a need for any reduction in this area. There is scope for improvement rather than deletion of the entire chapter, which is an easy reference point for all officials and stakeholders, ” said a member of the technical committee dealing with the subject.He said the revised NBC, which was ready for printing around June last year, was prepared with the participation of over 1,300 professionals. Another member said, “How many urban local bodies and municipalities have the capacity to bring out a detailed code? Withdrawal of it suddenly will force them to go back to the drawing board.”Several members of the committee said that the revised NBC was prepared after more than two years of work and when it was about to be published, the Cabinet Secretariat wrote to all chief secretaries saying that it is not mandatory to follow the NBC. Subsequently, BIS was directed to delete certain parts of NBC 2016, including the parts relating to “Integrated Approach”, “Administration” and “Fire Safety”.