List steps taken to stop fire tragedies: NHRC

Mumbai: The National Human Rights Commission (NH-RC) has issued a notice to the chief secretary asking for, within four weeks, a report detailing the measures that have been taken in Mumbai to ensure incidents such as the Kamala Mills fire aren’t repeated. The fire, which broke out on December 29, claimed 14 lives.

The NHRC actions come in the wake of it receiving a complaint letter from advocate Dipak Kumar Chattopadhyay, a city-based lawyer about inadequate fire safety measures. The NHRC said that if the report is not filed within four weeks, a coercive process would be initiated and the authority concerned would be called before it.

The notice reads, “Issue notice to the chief secretary, government of Maharashtra calling for a report within four weeks. In case, the report is not received within the stipulated time, the Commission shall be constrained to invoke coercive process u/s 13 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 for personal appearance of the concerned authority.”

Mr Chattopadhyay had stated in his letter that fourteen innocent persons lost their lives “due to negligence of authorities”. He termed the incident a “violation of human rights” because the authority concerned did not bother whether or not restaurants and pubs had adopted proper safety measures. He has also alleged that there are several illegal pubs and hotels are being run in the city. “Please carry out inquiry about the incident and take further action deem fit and proper. It is gross violation of fire safety rules and norms that had resulted in fire,” read Mr Chattopadhyay’s letter.

Speaking to The Asian Age, Mr Chattopadhyay said, “The fire was result of the government’s failure but still no compensation has been announced either for the kin of the deceased or the injured.”