Rajkot tragedy

THE fire at a Rajkot game zone, which left 27 persons dead, and the death of seven newborn babies in a Delhi hospital on Saturday are stark examples of how cheap life is in India. Just over a week ago, nine lives were lost when a bus caught fire with people sleeping inside near Haryana’s Nuh district. The Rajkot disaster was waiting to happen. The summer vacation had just begun, and the game zone was teeming with families enjoying a weekend outing. According to the police, the place neither had adequate fire-fighting equipment nor had obtained a no-objection certificate from the local fire department. As per the FIR, the owners of the commercial establishment endangered the lives of people despite knowing that a blaze on the premises could cause deaths and injuries. Taking suo motu cognisance of the case, the Gujarat High Court said it was prima facie a ‘man-made disaster’. The court observed that such gaming zones and recreational facilities had come up without necessary approvals from competent authorities.

Even as the police have registered a case against six persons operating the game zone, a thorough probe is required to establish criminal negligence that led to the shocking incident. It needs to be ascertained whether any concession or relaxation was given to the owners by local officials. The HC has rightly sought details of the licences and permissions, including the one regarding compliance with fire safety regulations, that were given to various entertainment zones under the territorial jurisdiction of municipal corporations.

It is obvious that fire safety norms are being blatantly given the go-by. Such callous disregard for human life must not go unpunished. Unfortunately, no lessons seem to have been learnt from the Uphaar fire tragedy of 1997. Zero tolerance to violations should be the way forward. A nationwide audit is the need of the hour to rouse the authorities into action across the country.