Delhi fire

It's been more than five years when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government came up with its 'Make in India' marketing slogan, but the conditions in the manufacturing sector remain largely unplanned and unregulated, leading to tragic consequences every now and then. In an appalling incident on Sunday, 43 people were killed and at least 20 others were injured when a fire broke out in a factory where school bags, purses and jackets were made in Anaj Mandi area of Delhi. According to reports, tearful relatives spoke of receiving desperate calls from the workers trapped inside the building, begging to be freed from the inferno in poorly lit three-storey premises with only one entrance and 20 rooms on each floor connected by one internal stairway. It is said to be the worst blaze in 20 years, but smaller incidents keep occurring from time to time. In fact, less than 24 hours earlier, another fire had erupted in a nearby factory. Fire officials are reported as claiming that they receive calls quite often from the area. This has been happening not in some small backwater town but in a commercial hub of India's capital city.

These incidents amply show that despite its big power pretentions, India remains a backward country in terms of implementation of standard rules and regulations. After such incidents responsibility is usually shrugged off by shifting the blame onto the affected concern's owner, as in the present case an official is reported to have said the site had been operating without the required fire safety clearances. Other reports, however, point out that the area is just another example of factories and small manufacturing units operating from the old congested quarters of the city in blatant disregard for fires safety rules, and without a check on illegal constructions in narrow lanes. In the event of a fire even a single fire truck cannot reach the trouble spot.

Admittedly, conditions in some other South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, are not any better. In the 2012 blaze at the Walmart clothes making factory in Dhaka, as many as 112 people were burned to death; the same year fire in Karachi's Baldia Town garments factory claimed more than 250 lives. The cause of the fire may have been different in different cases, but a common factor has been the absence of safety measures, such as fire alarms, extinguishers and escape exits. Unfortunately, after some tut-tutting such horrors are forgotten until the next tragedy strikes because the victims invariably are poor people. It can only be hoped the present incident will jolt the authorities concerned into action not only in India but other countries with similar issues, including Pakistan, impelling them to pay serious attention to implementation of fire safety regulations as well as construction rules. No one deserves to die like this. Governments in this part of the world must do everything that is necessary to protect workers from preventable tragedies.