It has been exactly one month since the horrific fire accident at a coaching centre in Surat took away lives of 22 students on May 24. And all investigations suggest that it was an illegal construction running with gross violation of adequate fire safety measures. Similar kind of tragedies visit regularly in almost all parts of the country which claim countless lives and devastate families. With such harsh realities in the background, the recent directive of Capital administration to the coaching institutes and  cinema halls to adhere strictly to all kinds of safety measures with due emphasis on fire safety can be regarded as an appropriate and much needed step.

It will be a matter of great distress for any citizen when the recent history of fire mishaps in public places are given a look. If the accidents itself with sights of charred bodies and ceaseless cries of the kin of the victims are a cause of great mental agony, the continuing callousness displayed by authorities concerned to take the matter with minimum seriousness is no less distressing. Although there are heaps of instances of fire tragedies that can be cited, the Uphaar cinema hall incident in Delhi in June 1997 which claimed 59 lives can be rated to be one of the worst in the lot. Lamentably, the fact that a large number of similar accidents had occurred during last 22 years only corroborates the truth that no lessons had been taken as yet. There are routine ‘enquiries’ on behalf of government followed with compensation bouquets and media uproar and after a certain point of time everything disappears from public memory, until a similar one strikes. It is not that construction and fire safety laws do not exist, but the way the undesirable but avoidable ‘man-made’ tragedies continue to recur, it is apparent that they are only in paper with an alarming lacunae in implementation and monitoring mechanism.

To get out of this atmosphere of helplessness when it seems there is only countdown for tragedies, it is high time to launch comprehensive corrective actions. Zero tolerance must be shown where there are even a trifle deviation from the laid out norms of all the safety parameters. For buildings  about to be constructed, it must be ensured that they come up only with the desired code of safety followed with a routine inspection system.

Since the habit of flouting fire safety norms has reached chronic levels, the curative measures must be undertaken on a prolonged basis and mustn’t turn out to be ‘once in a while’ affairs. Such actions should be undertaken not only in capital but also in other towns of Arunachal  irrespective of their sizes.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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