AA Edit | Nationwide Fire Safety Audit Must
Apart from the owner of the building, the prime culprits in most fire accidents that originate in AC units are the power officials who do not audit power demand and AC equipment manufacturers who sell their power-guzzling appliances without a power supply audit.
The tragic fire at a graphics animation centre in Lucknow on June 22, which claimed 15 lives, mostly young men and women, is an unfortunate addition to India’s long history of avoidable disasters. This mishap, once again, highlights the systemic failure of fire safety compliance across the country.
Preliminary investigations indicate the fire originated in a ground-floor air-conditioning unit before spreading through the entire building. The structural layout of the building, which was constructed in violation of basic fire safety regulations, functioned as a death trap.
The response from governments followed a familiar script: quick announcements of ex gratia compensation by state and central governments, followed by promises of a thorough probe. Most probably, the blame will be pinned on negligence, and the case will be closed in a few months without any attempt to address the root causes of urban safety failures.
If one observes closely, the Lucknow fire accident has no new lessons to offer. It has all the toxic combination of old constructions, low-capacity internal wiring, structural violations, official apathy, and regulatory blindness that defines every other fire mishap in India.
The three-storey commercial building at Aliganj was built over a 46-year-old residential house allotted in July 1980. As it was an unauthorised construction, the local body issued a demolition order in 2016, but it was revoked within two months without any reason.
An old building quite naturally will have low-capacity internal electrical wiring, which cannot bear the modern power demand contributed by multiple AC units and heavy internal lighting in commercial complexes.
Apart from the owner of the building, the prime culprits in most fire accidents that originate in AC units are the power officials who do not audit power demand and AC equipment manufacturers who sell their power-guzzling appliances without a power supply audit.
The government must, therefore, order a comprehensive nationwide audit of domestic power demand and the internal power distribution systems of buildings.