New Delhi: Lure for money, cheap labours, the lukewarm response of municipal agencies and the fire department, and the laziness of lawmakers have cost 90 lives in different fire tragedies in the national capital this year.
The mushrooming of illegal colonies and property mafia here in the city has made the situation worse.
Above all, the negligence of the government in dealing with fire tragedies has put the lives of Delhiites at risk.
Fire in hotels situated in Karol Bagh, Zakir Nagar, Sudarshan Park, and Anaj Mandi has traumatised people. Shockingly, these structures neither had the ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) issued from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) department nor fire safety equipment to deal with any untoward incident.
These tragedies are grim reminders that the civic agencies do not learn lessons from past tragedies as they wait for another to happen.
On December 23, 2019, a massive fire ripped through a three-storey residential-cum-commercial building in Outer Delhi’s Kirari area, killing at least nine people including three children.
On December 14, 2019, three women died after a fire broke out in a four-storey building in Shalimar Bagh area. Four people, including two teenagers, were injured.
On December 8, 2019, a massive fire ripped through a factory in Anaj Mandi area of North Delhi, leaving 43 labourers dead and many others injured.
The fire broke out in the second floor of the four-storey building in the early hours and 30 fire tenders were pressed into service.
On August 6, 2019, five people were killed and 11 injured in a massive fire at Zakir Nagar area in Delhi.
On February 12, 2019, a massive fire swept through a four-storey hotel in Central Delhi’s Karol Bagh, killing at least 17 guests including a child and two people who jumped off the building in a desperate bid to save themselves.
The blaze, in which 35 people were injured, started in the second floor of the Arpit Palace Hotel in the heart of the national capital at around 3.30 am, trapping many guests who were deep in sleep.
On January 5, 2019, seven people died after a ceiling fan-parts manufacturing unit running illegally in a two-storey building in Delhi’s Moti Nagar area collapsed following an explosion in the gas compressor.
Sources in the civic bodies disclosed that these industries are illegal not only because they run in unauthorised areas but also because they do not have the licence to operate.
According to Atul Garg, the chief fire officer of DFS, the fire department has issued only 2,372 NOCs till date for hotels and industrial purpose.
However, a senior Municipal Corporation official said that they have been carrying out sealing action against such units as per instructions of the Supreme Court, adding that many units were either found closed or vacant after a notice to that effect had been served.
