The Hyderabad tragedy claims that the lives of 17 members of the jewellery merchant family have caused adverse consequences for the agency’s neglect of fire safety. Although such incidents often give way, what remains unchanged is the fundamental indifference to preventive measures at the institutional level and in civil society.
One of the most obvious mistakes is the lack of enforcement of building regulations. The National Building Code provides for clear fire safety regulations, but compliance is still optional, or at best, selectively enforced or largely ignored. Most builders and individual homeowners violate fire safety regulations without punishment and helped with a combination of loose supervision and corruption.
In a country that is still considered a premium property, people often face fire safety requirements. To maximize the use of land when building a house, most people choose narrow access and crowded houses, which will allow the tinder box to be made in the unfortunate situation, which is one of the reasons that prevents firefighters from working to open fire in the Hyderabad fire crisis.
For aesthetic purposes, without installing fire safety systems, the practice of choosing false ceilings made from low-cost flammable materials makes buildings more susceptible to misfortunes.
Therefore, the government should raise awareness of fire safety by including it in school curriculum. In every residential and commercial building, basic fire drills, accessible escape routes, and ready-to-use fire extinguishers should be mandatory.
India has 780 regions in India with less than 3,000 fire stations, about four in each region. In terms of coverage, each fire station will serve 1,000 square kilometers. The state government should insist that newly developed communities have basic fire protection materials.
Modernization and equipment of fire departments across the country are also needed. Fire safety must be a priority, not an afterthought. Life should not be lost by completely preventable negligence.
