Safety norms neglected by both owners and authorities: Locals on Vivek Vihar and Malviya Nagar fire incidents

New Delhi: With a devastating fire at a multi-storey Bed and Breakfast (B&B) building in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar that claimed 21 lives, a month after a similar blaze at a four-storey residential building in Vivek Vihar killed nine people and injured several others, locals highlighted that fire safety norms in buildings are often neglected by both the property owners as well as authorities. They attributed it to ample utilisation of space.

Speaking to IANS, Sanreka Sharma, who was an eyewitness in the Vivek Vihar fire tragedy, stressed that negligence is both on the part of property owners as well as the authorities.

“When somebody makes a house or sets up a business, they try to use up the maximum space available. We forget to adhere to the safety standards like having a door on the backside of the property,” she said.

She added that the incident that had taken place at her neighbourhood in Vivek Vihar, had ample space where up to four doors could have been made.

“Due to ample utilisation of space to make grills, etc, such incidents take place,” Sharma said.

In the Vivek Vihar case, she highlighted that the grills were made in such a way that it did not have any open space for emergency situation.

Drawing similarities with the Malviya Nagar fire incident, Sharma said: “The accident that happened yesterday in Malviya Nagar had a similar problem; the door to the roof was locked, due to which people could not even go up to the roof, and the windows and doors were permanently fixed, so no one could get out.”

She also added that people tend to ignore measures related to safety, which should not happen.

“Only when both the people and the administration take strict measures such incidents can be prevented, otherwise the way such tragedies have been regularly taking place in Delhi, people will keep falling prey to it,” Sharma asserted.

Another resident Navami Jha highlighted lack of proper inspection of safety norms as one of the reasons for the fire tragedies.

She added: “The constructions which takes place at a property after building or buying a house, is what creates problems.”

A local in the Malviya Nagar area, who witnessed the tragedy on Wednesday, said she was aware that the B&B regulations were being violated in the property.

“More rooms had been built than what was permitted. There was also a cafe operating on the ground floor, and many people were being accommodated in a single room,” she told IANS.

Reportedly, the B&B property had only one entry and exit gate which further reduced the chances of those trapped to escape.

The woman emphasised that the tragedy has come across as a massive shock to the locals in the area.

IANS