Knowledge Nugget : Goa nightclub blaze renews spotlight on fire safety — what needs your attention for UPSC exam?

In today’s knowledge nugget, let’s look at the fire safety guidelines, provisions, and recommendations.

Key takeaways:

1. All high-rises and public buildings in India are required to get a fire safety clearance. The National Building Code of India covers the guidelines for construction, maintenance, and fire safety of buildings. However, it is recommendatory, and not binding, in nature. The actual No Objection and safety certificates are given at the level of the state government or the local civic authorities.

2. Goa’s fire safety laws are primarily governed by the Goa, Daman and Diu Fire Force Act, 1986. According to the Act, mandatory fire clearance is required for high-risk buildings, implementing fire prevention measures like alarms, extinguishers, and clear exits, and regulating licensed agencies for installations, with enforcement overseen by the Goa Fire and Emergency Services, emphasising risk assessment and compliance, safety fire guidelines open courtyards are required for placing and operating the fire and rescue appliances in case of emergency.

3. Since the Fire service is a state subject included as a Municipal function in the XII Schedule of the Constitution of India under Article 243(W), the implementation largely depends on the states. However, to ensure uniformity in the fire services, the Government of India had circulated the Model Fire service Bill, 1958 and the amended Model Fire and Emergency Service Bill, 2019 for adoption by the state governments.

3. The Model Building Bye-Laws 2016 was also released by the government to provide guidelines or templates for states and local bodies for planning and performance regulations, including fire safety, green building, conservation and streamlining of procedural regulations.

4. Last month, the Assam Cabinet approved the introduction of the Assam Fire and Emergency Services Bill, 2025 to ensure uniform fire safety regulations across states. In 2022, the Uttar Pradesh government had implemented the Uttar Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services Act, 2022.

5. In a response to a question in Lok Sabha in 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the House that since the Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended a provision of Rs.5000 crore for strengthening the fire services at a state level, the government has launched a “Scheme for Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the States” in 2023.

6. “Expanding and Modernization of Fire Services” with the award period for 2021-2026 provides the Preparedness and Capacity Building Funding Window under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for strengthening fire services in the States with a total Central outlay of Rs. 5,000 Crore.

What is the Model Fire Safety Bill 2019?

1. The 2019 Model Fire Safety Bill provides a uniform legal framework for fire safety across states. The Bill mandates that there shall be one Fire and Emergency Service for the whole of State and all officers and subordinate ranks of the Fire and Emergency Service shall be liable for posting to any branch of the Fire and Emergency Service.

2. According to the Bill, all Fire Services shall be considered Emergency Services in order to assist in managing any disaster that does not result solely due to fire. The Bill addresses the Fire Service’s role as a Multi-Hazard Response Unit.

3. The Bill establishes that it is the responsibility of the owner or occupier to provide and maintain necessary fire prevention and life safety measures, aligning with the National Building Codes of India.

4. There is a provision in the bill that states that it is mandatory for the owners of multi-storied and special buildings to equip them with automatic sprinkler systems, fire alarms, and fire extinguishers to prevent or extinguish fire. Owners or occupiers of specified factories or buildings must appoint a Fire Safety Officer to ensure compliance with fire prevention and safety measures.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Uphaar Cinema blaze

The photograph of the worst fire tragedy happened on Friday, 13 June 1997 at Uphaar Cinema, Green Park, Delhi, during the 3-to-6 pm screening of the movie Border. (Express archive photo by Praveen Khanna)

1. Activist Neelam Krisnamoorthy, who lost two children in the Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy in 1997 in the national capital, called the Goa incident a “deja vu” moment, stressing that those responsible for implementing safety norms ought to have ensured there were no combustible materials, such as fire guns, when there people dancing on nightclub floor.

2. This year marked the 28th anniversary of the Uphaar Cinema fire that broke out on June 13, 1997, claiming 59 lives due to asphyxiation and leaving hundreds injured in the ensuing stampede.

3. The investigation of the Uphaar fire tragedy brought to light huge amount of corruption and violations of fire code norms including no proper public announcement system, blocked exits and lack of maintenance of the transformers. Apart from the violation of norms, the investigation also revealed that there was large-scale corruption involved in the case wherein the owner of Uphaar cinema, Sushil Ansal and his brother Gopal Ansal were accused of incorporating more number of people inside the hall than allowed.

4. The trial court gave its verdict in 2007, a decade after the tragedy, convicting the Ansal brothers of criminal negligence and slapping a two-year prison sentence, the maximum possible in such a case. A year later, the Delhi High Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to one year.

5. In the Supreme Court, the case went on for almost a decade. In 2017, the apex court directed that the two brothers pay a fine of ₹30 crore each, which would go towards the construction of a trauma centre. As for their sentences, Sushil Ansal, who has spent a total of five months in prison, was let off without further jail time on account of his age (77) and health complications. Gopal was ordered to serve a year in prison.

Post Read Question

Consider the following statements:

1. Fire service is a state subject included as a Municipal function in the XII Schedule.

2. The Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended a provision of Rs.5000 crore for strengthening the fire services at a state level.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

(Sources: Goa nightclub blaze: Why most deaths in a fire are because of suffocation, not burns, Anatomy of a blaze, Revised Model Fire Service Bill 2019, http://www.mha.gov.in, http://www.nitiforstates.gov.in)

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