On Saturday, a fire that broke out on the ninth floor of a multi-storyed building on Barakhamba Road near Connaught Place, should serve as a wake-up call for authorities in the entire National Capital Region, including parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Although there was no loss of life reported in the incident, yet police and fire personnel went through many anxious moments.
With mushrooming of high-rise structures in various parts of the NCR, the bureaucracy and those in power must without any delay, review the fire safety measures, like multiple clearances that were required, as also the preparedness of the government to tackle any major blaze in the future. It should not happen that the bureaucracy swings into action only after a major incident, where there are huge losses of life and property. There is an urgent need for upgradation of the fire-fighting equipment, Majority of fire stations are ill-equipped to deal with a blaze of big proportion. The first major incident that shook the authorities nearly four decades ago happened at the Gopala Towers at Rajendra Place in Central Delhi. The Delhi Fire Service was unable to cope with the magnitude of the fire since it had no equipment to handle high-rise fires.
The then Lt. Governor, Jagmohan asked for help from the armed forces and helicopters were deployed to pour the water from mid-air. However, the rotors of the Choppers, fanned the blaze and made things even worse. The incident demonstrated the inadequacies, and shortly after that Snorkels and Turn Table Ladders were ordered and procured by the Delhi Fire Service. Gopala Towers was followed by another incident on Kasturba Gandhi Marg where a fire broke out in a building adjacent to the Hindustan Times. A man wanting to escape being caught, jumped down in panic and lost his life. On January 23rd, 1986, a major fire was reported in the wee hours of the morning from a five star hotel in Vasant Vihar, in which many including foreigners perished. The Uphaar Cinema tragedy was much publicized and had led to the arrest of Ansal brothers, the promoters. However, many officials, who also played a role in granting permissions or not performing their duties, were not properly probed, and therefore escaped prosecution. The short point is that this was the correct time to ensure that every High-rise structure in not only Delhi but the entire NCR, has safety clearances given by the relevant Fire Department. It has been observed that in many such buildings, the fire-escapes and staircases are often clogged and cluttered with broken or unused furniture that serves as an obstacle for anyone wanting to take that route to escape. Gurugram and NOIDA have many buildings which have also come up but have no clearances. Moreover, the authorities do not have the equipment to deal with a major blaze if it was to break out. It implies that there was a major tragedy that was waiting to happen, merely because of the callousness of those who maintain these structure as well as the casual approach of the authorities. In both Gurugram and NOIDA, assistance would be needed from a place like Delhi, but it may not reach on time, since the roads which connect the city with the NCR are mostly choked with heavy traffic. The need should be to be prepared for any kind of calamity. To begin with, Fire Stations in the vicinity of high-rise buildings must ensure that the structures met with the conditions set by the authorities to grant completion certificates. Secondly, these buildings should also have inherent fire extinguishing equipment and sufficient space for emergency vehicles to move in, if required. There were two categories of multi-storeyed buildings in the region. There were commercial and the other category was residential. Both these types must be adequately inspected in order to declare them safe and fit for occupation. The Barakhamba Road fire may not have led to any loss of life, but should not be dismissed lightly. This must be taken seriously in order to ensure the overall fire safety in the entire NCR. It should not be that authorities get into action only after people have died. There must be accountability.