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Six people of one family were killed and three others sustained injuries in a massive fire that cindered a two-storey house in Firozabad’s Padam town on Tuesday, 29^th November. Fire continues to claim lives in such accidents but due to the lack of awareness about the complete picture, common people do not realise the gravity of the problem. Therefore, there is no concerted public outcry and the administration does not bother to go beyond the niceties and formalities that have now become predictable and cliched.

“Six were killed in a tragic fire incident probably caused because of a short circuit at the house located within limits of Jasrna police station of Firozabad district,” said district magistrate Ravi Ranjan, who reached the spot during the rescue operation on Tuesday night.

He added, “The victims include three adults and three children. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the deaths and declared a compensation of ?2 lakh to the next of kin for each of the deceased. Three family members were rescued.” DM Firozabad also revealed that 18 fire tenders were pressed into rescue action which lasted about three hours.

WHY IS IT THAT DESPITE SCARY STATISTICS SUSTAINING OVER DECADES NBC NORMS ARE IGNORED BY ARCHITECTS, BUILDERS AND GOVERNMENTS?

Initial findings that follow any fire accident suggest that short circuits, mostly due to aged and worn out wiring, storing inflammable materials, blocking exit passages, overhanging electrical wirings are some of the causes of fires. The story is same city after city, state after state. But since data coordination and proper statistical facts are never focused on or even revealed to the people, the administration gets away with tokenism and addressing the effect while covering up the cause because that is a Pandora’s box no one wants to open.

BAREFACTS AND NUMBERS THAT NEEDS TO BE BUGLED LOUD

A telling report, FICCI-Pinkerton’s The India risk survey, 2017 ranks natural hazards the fourth highest risk to business up from the previous year’s seventh position. According to National Crime Record Bureau, 18,450 cases of fire accidents were reported in 2015 which injured 1,193 and killed 17,700. Fire has been ranked fifth, up by three positions from the last year’s ranking, cites the report.