Know the drill

A terrible fire broke out at a community gathering of thousands of eunuchs in Nand Nagri,a resettlement colony in east Delhi. Tents had been put up at the community hall,which had only one exit,and there were four times as many people as the capacity of the community centre. After the fire started,the power supply was cut off to prevent people from being electrocuted but caused a terrified stampede. The lanes were too narrow to allow large fire-fighting trucks in,making it that much more difficult to douse the conflagration and evacuate people. Ultimately,at least 13 people have died,and others have been badly injured in the disaster.

In India,we have been witness to many incidents where poor fire safety norms have contributed to utterly preventable tragedies from the Uphaar cinema fire to schoolchildren who were killed in Tamil Nadu and earlier,in Haryana. These incidents have seared themselves into public memory. Many states have their own legislation and dedicated fire services to deal with the risk,which only increases with new high-rise buildings and industrial pockets that do not have inbuilt safety mechanisms.

There are structural precautions that need to be taken fire regulations need to be rigorously applied to all buildings. But as critical as engineering solutions are,fire safety takes more than just building by-laws or professional rescue training. It requires creating public awareness on maintaining safe environments,to train people to have their wits about them when a fire breaks out 8211; to know that one is meant to stop and roll on the floor to smother flames rather than rush around in panic,which only fans them. All large gatherings must take emergency evacuations into consideration. As in other countries,we need students to be taught fire prevention fundamentals and have regular drills.