Fire accidents, a burning problem despite reforms

The devastating Delhi blaze that claimed 27 lives last fortnight has shifted the focus back on a fire safety system in tatters, echoing a deep, telling concern in cities across the country. Structural design flaws that ignored even the basic safety mandates, escape routes that remained inaccessible, fire-fighting equipment that just were not there. The flaws were aplenty, and predictable.

Predictable, because the glaring gaps have been evident in recurring fires reported in city after city. Owners of the Delhi building had not even applied for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Department, a document that shows that the fire prevention and safety requirements are in sync with the Delhi Fire Services Rules.

Hard lessons had to be learnt from another equally horrific fire, the Carlton Towers tragedy in Bengaluru that took nine lives 12 years ago. Its fire exits blocked and fire-fighting equipment in deep disrepair, the victims had jumped to their death as fire and smoke engulfed the building. But that accident sparked a concerted citizens-led, legal fight-back that forced the Karnataka Government to amend laws that mandated re-inspection of high-rises every two years for fire safety clearance.

Spearheaded by Uday Vijayan, who lost his 23-year-old son in that fire, the ‘Beyond Carlton’ collective had put sustained pressure, filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court to ensure that the amended rules were notified in July 2011.

“One thing we learnt before the PIL was the developers get the NOC and when the building is handed over, all the violations begin. Until our PIL, there was no way the fire department could come in again to check,” recalls Uday.

The re-inspection right did empower the Fire Department. But has the amended rule been enforced? Has it emerged as a model for other states to emulate? Recurring fires in cities nationwide and even in Bengaluru, where serious rescue and accessibility issues remain potent, paint a grim picture.

This came out to haunt Bengalureans on September 21, 2021, when two elderly women were charred to death, trapped inside a five-storey building that caught fire in Begur. Firemen could not rescue them as safety grills on the balcony blocked their access. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) later banned all such ‘illegal’ balcony modifications.

If this was an access problem in an apartment, the massive November 10, 2020 fire at a godown housing chemicals in New Guddadahalli, Bengaluru posed a huge challenge for the fire tenders. The narrow road was extremely tough to negotiate, even as the fire threatened to engulf the thickly populated residential buildings in close proximity to the chemical factory.

The apparent gaps in rule enforcement have been aggravated by a huge inadequacy in infrastructure. Nationwide, only 3,377 fire stations are functional, against an estimated requirement of 8,559. Four years ago, when Bengaluru’s population was only about 80 lakh, the city required 78 stations but had only 15. Today, to cater to the fire safety demands of 1.30 crore Bengalureans, there are only 30 stations, a far cry from the required 100.

Karnataka has only 217 fire stations. “Ideally, to cover the vulnerable places, it is critical to have at least one station in every taluk. The government has been adding new ones, but it is a gradual process,” says Ajay Kumar Pandey, the State Director General, Fire & Emergency Services.

In Mumbai, with India’s densest clusters of high-rises (buildings 15m and taller), the fire safety records are touching new depths. Vikram Mehta, one of India's leading experts in fire evacuation systems, notes, “The city has witnessed 32,516 fire accidents caused by short circuits and 1,116 fire accidents caused by gas leaks from 2008 to 2018. All these reasons point towards the negligence of fire safety audits and norms by the residents and builders/developers.”

In the last 10 years alone, Mumbai reported 1,568 high-rise fire incidents, damaging property worth over Rs 90 crore. “While we have been continuously witnessing fire accidents in Mumbai, the time bomb is now ticking when it comes to fire evacuation in high-rise buildings,” Vikram points out.

The rules are clear. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, the Fire Brigade and the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) have mandated evacuation lifts since 2018. But till date, many real estate developers and builders are seen dodging the rules, endangering the lives of thousands.

Fire-fighting tools

Super-tall buildings might require a total rejig of fire-fighting tools. As Vikram explains, “We have external fire brigade ladders that reach high floors; but is it adequate enough to rescue maximum people at a time.”

How effective can ladders be in accessing these super-talls? As Ajay Kumar informs, since Bengaluru and most cities are going vertical in a big way, ladders are bound to be of little help in buildings with floors upwards of 10.

Electric short-circuit is a recurring cause for a big share of fire accidents. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that this sparked 1,812 incidents in 2020, only marginally less than the 2,183 recorded nationwide in 2019.

In March this year, five of a family perished in Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram, after they inhaled smoke from a burning false ceiling that caught fire caused by a short-circuit.

The deadly fires continue to take lives despite stringent norms that were put in place in 2015 by the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services. Its chief Jacob Thomas denied NOC to about 50 high-rises citing shortcomings in norms prescribed by the National Building Code (NBC). Following the Karnataka model, Kerala did stipulate mandatory re-inspection of high-rises to renew NOCs every two years.

But, as Cheryl Rebello, Beyond Carlton’s Chief Executive Officer, notes, the NBC is only recommendatory. “Codes and standards languish because implementation is an actual challenge. The NBC is only recommendatory in nature and is not binding. The states are supposed to incorporate the recommendations into their local bye-laws, and then make these mandatory.”

Tying up with the Odisha Government, Beyond Carlton is now putting together a fire-safety plan for Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The challenges are multifold. Cheryl explains: “You find states issuing circulars saying fire audits will be conducted for all hospitals. But they don’t have the bandwidth to conduct those audits or monitor them.”

There is a big gap in what the NBC says and reality on the ground. “The Code addresses access, construction, maintenance of fire safety equipment, but these are all flouted at the basic level. We need accountability at multiple levels. Development authorities, architect associations, municipalities — all need to be updated and held accountable.”

The fire-safety protocols such as proper setbacks, fire hydrants and diffusers have now been standardised and these are incorporated by the architects and builders, notes Balakrishna Hegde, Executive Council member of the Confederation of Real Estate Development Associations of India (CREDAI) National. “The problem comes in the maintenance stage, which the fire audits once in two years are taking care of,” he says.

Electricity Supply Companies are also extremely critical to put in place a robust anti-fire mechanism. On an average, 5-6 fatal accidents daily are related to electricity. “Safety compliances are necessary,” says L K S Rathore, Director, Regional Inspectorate Office (West), Central Electricity Authority.

Multiple triggers

An electricity-sparked fire has multiple triggers, he informs. “The reasons vary right from defective insulation, lack or improper earthing of electrical equipment, unauthorised work, poor wiring, undersized wires and cables, moisture in switch boards…”

Seamless access for fire-tenders to reach a building in quick time is key to saving lives and property. Newer projects with proper sanctioned plans, the big hotels and commercial complexes in particular, tend to leave out adequate setbacks for easy access, as Uday notes. But this is clearly not the case with older buildings.

This is why, the first priority for the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) after the blaze was to ascertain the type of area, year of construction of the building, and illegality in commercial activity. Two days after the tragedy, NDMC suspended a licensing inspector and two section officers for lapses.

So, is retrofitting old buildings with the latest fire-safety equipment the solution? Access for big fire-tenders is still a problem as most of these buildings are deep inside highly congested areas, linked by narrow, often encroached roads. As a safety expert puts it, “Retrofits can’t make it 100% safe, but surely we could look at making the buildings 30 to 40% safer than what it currently is. You can then train the staff and residents there.”

(With inputs from Mrityunjay Bose in Mumbai, Arjun Raghunath in Thiruvananthapuram and Amrita Madhukalya in New Delhi)