Why Delhi buildings are prone to fire, collapse | Deep Dive
India Today
In the last 25 years, several major fires and incidents of building collapse have been reported in Delhi. Here's a deep dive into the reasons for the same.
Fire or building collapse, Delhi always seems to be on the precipice of yet another manmade disaster. In the last 25 years, several such incidents have been reported in the national capital, but it seems like no lessons have been learnt.
On May 13, 27 people died in a major fire in Delhi’s Mundka area. After each incident and the loss of innocent lives, the authorities order a crackdown and political parties engage in a blame game. But concrete action is hard to come by.
What is leading to such disasters in Delhi? India Today took a deep dive to find out.
On June 13, 1997, a massive fire at Uphaar Cinema caused 59 deaths. Then, on November 15, 2010, a five-storied building collapsed in the densely populated Lalita Park area of Lakshmi Nagar in East Delhi; 67 people were killed and 73 others were injured.
On December 8, 2019, a fire at a factory in Anaj Mandi area claimed 43 lives. In February that year, a fire at Karol Bagh’s Hotel Arpit Palace caused 17 deaths. Post this incident, the government sealed and fined many hotels for non-compliance with fire safety guidelines.
Smaller incidents of building collapse and fire have consistently occurred in the national capital. Town planners have grave concerns about the safety of Delhi’s multi-storied buildings.
Archit Pratap Singh, town planner and architect, said, “The provision of an alternate safe passage to the inhabitants of the building in case of fire breakout is one of the most important on-ground remedies available in case of fire, but this norm is hardly followed. In recent years, the fire department has tried to implement this law for new buildings, but the ones already constructed still face this major issue. For instance, in the Mundka fire accident, only one staircase passage in the building was available and even its passage was obstructed by a generator. That’s a clear no according to fire norms.”
