What’s DVB up to?

NEW DELHI, January 8: The Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) announced a list of preventive measures immediately after the fire at the Uphaar cinema h...

NEW DELHI, January 8: The Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) announced a list of preventive measures immediately after the fire at the Uphaar cinema hall which claimed 59 lives. Seven months later, the agenda has barely moved beyond board meetings.

At least 107 cinema halls, restaurants and banquet halls were served notices on July 2 for various deviations from the 17 electrical-safety conditions. The violations included the presence of DVB’s own transformers in nine cinema halls, loose wiring and insufficient lighting. After the notifications, a series of inspections were conducted and the establishments were asked to file a compliance report within a week, which was later extended indefinitely.

No one in DVB, including Chairman Navin Chawla, is sure whether all the defects have been rectified. "Uphaar and Savitri have been lying shut for a long time and we have shifted our generators from the other seven. I have to check what has happened to the others."

Story continues below this ad

Every major fire in the Capital last year — Hemkunt Towers, Gandhinagar and Lajpat Rai markets and a Durga Puja pandal in C.R. Park — started because of short-circuits or other electrical defects. In fact, the Delhi Fire Service says that 70 per cent of the more than 2,000 fires during this period have occurred due to short-circuits.

Yet, nothing has been done to sort out the mad tangle of exposed joints and loose wiring in areas like Nai Sadak, Nehru Place and Gandhinagar. Senior DVB officials are quick to point out that the Delhi Fire Service is responsible for fire safety.

In July last year, Chawla passed strictures regarding the use of air-conditioners, but nobody seemed to take them seriously. And with winter in full swing, the issue has taken a back seat. Chawla, however, does not think so. "We are looking into each on a case-by-case basis."

The Uphaar tragedy was followed by unprecedented power cuts throughout summer. Residents all over the city said that their complaints were rarely attended to. The DVB responded by announcing additional complaint cells and staff. With only six persons working in shifts and not a single new centre, this announcement has proved to be as hollow as any other.

Story continues below this ad

Chawla says that he has also embarked on a "preventive maintenance drive", which in effect means that all cables, poles, and transformers will be repaired for the next summer. The last time this was done, the board coughed up Rs 26 crore.

With DVB employees busy with strikes and tool-down agitations over issues like pay hikes and no privatisation, there is no sign of any serious work.

Regarding corruption charges, the DVB says that a number of officials have been suspended during the year following various complaints. Though similar action was taken against five senior officials soon after the Uphaar tragedy, the CBI is yet a receive sanction from the board to prosecute three DVB employees, including two inspectors who have been named in the Uphaar chargesheet.