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Such kind of lapses and recklessness may lead to untoward accidents, which recently happened in Surat. In this unfortunate fire incident, Twenty-two students, including 18 girls, of an art and craft coaching institute died and left over 30 others injured in the devastating fire that engulfed the four-storeyed Takshashila Arcade in Sarthana area on May 24, 2019.

Reportedly, the fire started near the staircase because of short-circuits and the occupants (mostly students) could not get down. The developer of the premises had not taken care of exit points from the complex in case of a major fire incident, nor that have equipped the fourth floor with any kind of fire safety measures and equipment. Despite knowing that such lapses could lead to a major accident, they went ahead and illegally constructed the top floor and rented it for their own financial gains. This led to the death of people who either succumbed to burn injuries or died after they jumped off from the building.

The Preliminary investigation revealed that use of highly inflammable materials and tyres, which (surprisingly!!!) were used as chairs in the coaching class, caused the fire to spread rapidly. The fire spread very swiftly because highly combustible materials, such as flex, were also used. It was a standard condition for fire to engulf the entire area, as the ceiling (of the coaching institute) was just five feet high. Because of the low height of the ceiling, the owner used “tyres” instead of “chairs” for the students to sit, since one could not sit on a chair in such a room. It was the height of negligence and antipathy to the fire safety!!!!

On the other side, it took a lot of time to reach the spot for the High-capacity fire tenders, since they were stationed at a considerable distance, around 45 minutes away. This further hampered the fire fighting operation, which later turned to an irrepressible situation. This led to suspension of two officials of the Surat fire department, for leniency. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani reportedly asked Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Development Department to submit a report after conducting a thorough post-mortem of the highly catastrophic incident.

In the wake of this tragic mishap, all the municipalities and municipal corporations in the state of Gujrat have undertaken a substantial crack-down drive to identify buildings which do not comply with fire safety procedures, infrastructure, equipments and norms.

Meanwhile, all these municipalities and corporations have formed hundreds of teams, comprising of over 2000 officials, to identify such buildings, facilities and establishments. These teams examined over ten thousand of such buildings housing tuition classes, malls or hospitals, and issued show-cause notices to such premises. Owners and operators of such facilities have been warned that they should install fire fighting systems and should acquire fire NOC or else the buildings will be sealed.

This incident is indeed a wake-up call for all of us. It reinforces the necessity of fire fighting systems.  We should take all necessary steps to ensure that such incidents do not take place in future.