Delhi hotel fire – a sheer case of negligence
Saturday - February 16, 2019 4:50 am ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
WTN: The tragic fire in a Delhi hotel recently that took 18 innocent lives in the busy and posh Karol Bagh area of the capital is a painful reminder of our poor work ethics, mismanagement and negligence. Lives of ordinary people are little valued in the country, so the deaths will soon be forgotten and the chapter closed. But will that change the working and management of those hundreds of hotels which operate in the same way, in congested lanes of Karol Bagh and elsewhere and in open violation of the norms? Most likely not! And this is the misfortune of our country. We don’t learn from our mistakes.
Fire hazards take thousands of lives in India every year and ironically 90 per cent of them are preventable, which means they are caused due to neglect and violations. Public functions, marriage ceremonies, soirees, cultural events, hotels, hospitals, markets, cinemas, malls, godowns, factories – fire accidents can happen anywhere, anytime. We all are exposed to the possibilities of a big fire hazard because most of these public places are not well maintained and often the norms are silently bypassed till something big happens.
Poor monitoring and lack of accountability provide immunity to the wrongdoers. Several lapses were found in the Delhi hotel too. The corridors were wooden and hence combustible, that left the boarders without much option to escape. To top that they were much narrower than prescribed and thus safety was compromised. The emergency exit was closed and locked from outside. The firefighting equipment and fire alarms were defunct. Most Delhi budget hotels tell the same story. They typically violate the planning as depicted in the papers and make additional constructions.
The hotel in question too had two extra floors – one as a basement and another rooftop – which were illegally added on to the original approved plan. Why or how it was oblivious to the authorities is a mystery. In fact, most of the hotels in the region are of big businessmen, leaders and musclemen and they are not easily disturbed. Their political heft and nexuses allow these wrongs to continue for years. Now, after the fire, as it always happens after major incidents, the Delhi government has started all the monitoring and stock taking activities. Where were they all this time? Thousands of electric wires hang low in every narrow lane and street of Delhi. Many of them are ill-maintained, knotted and loose. Many of them are illegal extensions. A little spark or a short circuit can lead to a disastrous fire.
Fire hazards take thousands of lives in India every year and ironically 90 per cent of them are preventable, which means they are caused due to neglect and violations. Public functions, marriage ceremonies, soirees, cultural events, hotels, hospitals, markets, cinemas, malls, godowns, factories – fire accidents can happen anywhere, anytime. We all are exposed to the possibilities of a big fire hazard because most of these public places are not well maintained and often the norms are silently bypassed till something big happens.
Poor monitoring and lack of accountability provide immunity to the wrongdoers. Several lapses were found in the Delhi hotel too. The corridors were wooden and hence combustible, that left the boarders without much option to escape. To top that they were much narrower than prescribed and thus safety was compromised. The emergency exit was closed and locked from outside. The firefighting equipment and fire alarms were defunct. Most Delhi budget hotels tell the same story. They typically violate the planning as depicted in the papers and make additional constructions.
The hotel in question too had two extra floors – one as a basement and another rooftop – which were illegally added on to the original approved plan. Why or how it was oblivious to the authorities is a mystery. In fact, most of the hotels in the region are of big businessmen, leaders and musclemen and they are not easily disturbed. Their political heft and nexuses allow these wrongs to continue for years. Now, after the fire, as it always happens after major incidents, the Delhi government has started all the monitoring and stock taking activities. Where were they all this time? Thousands of electric wires hang low in every narrow lane and street of Delhi. Many of them are ill-maintained, knotted and loose. Many of them are illegal extensions. A little spark or a short circuit can lead to a disastrous fire.
Has anything been done to get these wires right? In no big city of the world electric wires are so ubiquitous and dangerously hanging in public places as in the gullies of Delhi. Most hotels have single exits and poor fire fighting arrangements. Will the Delhi government, which claims good governance with great pride, show some action here too, where lives of thousands of people are at stake? -Window To News
