This is not the first time lax fire safety standards in India have been brought to light. Circumvented regulatory approvals, over 90% shortage of fire staff, and a general attitude of throwing caution to the winds results in fire tragedies each year
This week, two separate fire accidents, 24 hours apart, once again raised a huge question mark on the fire safety standards in India. The horror over the gaming zone fire incident at Gujarat’s Rajkot was yet to subside when at least six newborns were killed in a fire incident at a Delhi hospital.
It is estimated that over 25,000 people die every year in India from fire-related accidents.
Rajkot gaming zone fire accident
A new video, believed to be shot just days before the tragedy, has emerged in the Rajkot gaming zone fire accident. The footage shows inflammable items like tyres and foam sheets strewn across the ground floor and highlights the gross negligence of the management.
The amusement center called TRP Game Zone, was reportedly also planning to build a snow park on the ground floor.
Further investigations revealed that the centre was set up in a flimsy shed-like structure that bypassed regulatory approvals and did not even have a fire license.
On the evening of May 25, when the fire broke out, the centre was packed with visitors, children, and families enjoying their summer vacation. People got trapped as a temporary structure at the facility collapsed near the entrance, rendering it difficult for people to get out and unfortunately, 27 lives were lost.
The Baby Hospital fire
On the morning of May 26th, the nation woke up to the shocking news of six newborn babies losing their lives in a fire incident at a Delhi hospital.
As the investigation into the incident proceeds, further shocking details have come to light.
The police have found through CCTV footage that the crucial thirty to thirty-five minutes were wasted after the fire broke out at Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar.
In what can truly be termed as a man-made disaster, the doctor on duty, reportedly, ran out on seeing a spark and the first calls to the Police Control Room and fire department were made by a passerby.
While the fire inspection is pending, prima facie the cause seems to be an electrical short circuit in one of the wires inside the hospital. The police have said that the fire spread to the cylinders which caused a blow up. The hospital, located in East Delhi, was functional even though registration with the Directorate General of Health Services expired two years ago.
The need of the hour
While the law takes its course in both incidents, the guilty are booked, and there is an urgent need to review fire safety standards in India. It starts with organisations, restaurants, hospitals, venues and buildings being able to circumvent regulatory approvals.
The pervasive nature of negligence is what causes multiple fire incidents for several reasons. The Bureau of Indian Standards sets out a detailed list of fire safety protocols, but their implementation is lacking on many counts. In India, fire services are a State subject and thus enforced and maintained at the municipality level.
In 2019, the Home Ministry while responding in Rajya Sabha informed that India had only 3377 fire stations whereas a 2012 national report on fire hazards recommended the number double. Fire Department infrastructure remains abysmally short in terms of human resources too.
The Home Ministry also said in a reply to the Rajya Sabha that fire services were facing a 90% shortage of manpower across the country. As on December 21, 2018, only 54,239 fire personnel worked across the country against the requirement of 557,123.
Especially during peak summer months and given the ongoing heatwave in the region, fire sirens are a fixture on the streets of Delhi. Overloading of air conditioners and transistors makes matters worse in residential areas and public buildings that circumvent or violate fire safety norms.
On May 29, the mercury crossed the insufferable 50 degrees in the Capital making it a fertile breeding ground for fire incidents.
As per a 2023 report by the National Crime Records Bureau, “In 2022, as many as 7,435 Indians lost their lives in the 7,566 fire accidents reported in the country.”
It also said that more than half of these deaths occurred in residential buildings. What makes the tragedy unbearable is that they are man-made and it is just a history of fire accidents repeating itself.
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