Recently, after the death of 15 children in a fire in a coaching institute located in Aliganj, Lucknow, questions have once again started being raised regarding the rules related to fire safety in public places. Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the repeated incidents of fire in schools, hospitals, coaching centres, hotels and other public buildings in the country. It demands that a uniform ‘National Minimum Fire and Life Safety Framework’ be created for high-risk public places across the country and strictly implemented.
Demand to give instructions to Supreme Court governments
This petition has been filed by lawyer Narendra Kumar Goswami. He has asked the Supreme Court to direct the Central and State Governments to set minimum fire and life-safety standards for all public buildings. He says that due to different rules in different states, there is a lot of difference in the level of security and the rules are not followed properly.
Rules regarding fire safety are incomplete in many places
The petition states that existing fire safety laws differ across states and union territories. In many places the rules are incomplete, while in many places they are not followed properly. This has a direct impact on the safety of people and increases the loss of life and property in incidents like fire. The petition demands that a national framework be created, which is equally applicable across the country. Its scope should include schools, hospitals, coaching centres, hotels, guest houses, entertainment venues, commercial buildings and all such places where a large number of people come and go.
Demand for strict adherence to fire safety rules
Apart from this, the petition has also demanded strict adherence to fire safety rules, regular inspections, ensuring preparedness to deal with emergency situations, making clear arrangements for evacuating people safely and fixing accountability of concerned officials and building owners for violation of rules. The petition states that frequent fire incidents in the country show that there are serious flaws in the fire safety system. Despite there being fire prevention rules, they are not followed properly, due to which people’s lives remain in constant danger.
Many incidents are mentioned in the petition
Many major fire incidents in the country have also been mentioned in it. These include Uphaar Cinema fire, AMRI Hospital fire, Surat’s Takshashila Arcade Coaching Centre, Anaj Mandi fire, Rajkot’s TRP Game Zone fire, recent fire in the guest house in Malviya Nagar, Delhi and fire in Aliganj Coaching Center in Lucknow. The petition said that these incidents make it clear that different laws, weak monitoring and negligence in implementing the rules have become a big threat to the safety of the people.
Also read: Amit Shah released new roadmap, drugs worth six thousand crores destroyed
Reference given to old decisions of the Supreme Court
The petitioner has also said that this matter is about the fundamental rights of the people related to Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. It is the constitutional responsibility of governments to provide a safe environment to citizens. Old decisions of the Supreme Court have also been cited in the petition. These include the decision in the case of Avinash Mehrotra vs Union of India on fire safety in schools and the Supreme Court’s suo motu proceedings on incidents of fire in hospitals. Apart from this, National Building Code, Model Building By-Laws, NDMA Guidelines and Model Fire Service Bill, 2019 have also been mentioned. According to the petitioner, he had also given an application to the concerned authorities of the Central and State Governments on June 24, demanding the creation of a National Minimum Fire and Life-Safety Framework, but no effective action was taken on it. After this he approached the Supreme Court.