Rajkot Fire Tragedy - No Lessons Learnt From The Past

Late afternoon on May 25, a spark from a welding machine in the TRP Gaming Zone in Rajkot, Gujarat led to materials around it catching fire. The entire Gaming Zone was engulfed in no time . The inferno claimed at least 30 lives, and several are still missing.

The Gaming Zone lacked the requisite No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire safety department. It did not even have adequate firefighting equipment at the venue.

The Bharatiya Janata Party Government in Gujarat quickly set up a Special Investigation Team, suspended officers, civic body head and Rajkot police commissioner were transferred. The accused are now in police custody.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia compensation of Rs 2 lakh each from the PM’s National Relief Fund for the families of those who died in the blaze. A compensation of Rs 50,000, was announced for each injured person. The state government announced Rs 4 lakh for families of each deceased, and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.

The Gujarat High Court took suo moto cognisance of the case and lambasted the state machinery. The High Court said that it no longer has faith in the state machinery that gets into action only after lives are lost.

However, what is baffling, and also ironic is that such man-made disasters are happening in Gujarat, which is projected as the model state of the BJP. The saffron party has been enjoying absolute power at the state level and municipal corporation levels for nearly three decades.

Every two years, crores of rupees are spent to project Gujarat as an investment destination. Decision makers and heads of states from all over the world converge in Gandhinagar, the state capital. It is a mega show headed by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, no lessons are learnt from the past tragedies. The Rajkot fire it appears was yet another tragedy that was waiting to happen.

In January 2024, 12 children and two teachers lost lives when the boat in which they were taking a joyride capsized in a pond in the centre of Vadodara. The passengers were not wearing life jackets. The case is now in the Gujarat High Court.

In October 2022, a 143-year-old bridge collapsed in Morbi. As many as 135 had died. The operation and maintenance of the bridge was being done by Oreva Group, a famous clock making company.

One of the civic officers in Morbi had the audacity to claim that they were not aware that the bridge was reopened for the people. On a holiday, there were more people than the bridge could have handled.

It was only recently that the managing director of the Oreva Group Jaysukh Patel got bail from the Supreme Court.

Environment activist Rohit Prajapati sees it as a systemic failure and alleged that there is no coordination between the departments concerned. He pointed out that even the terms of reference of the SIT set up in the Rajkot fire tragedy does not include why fires had taken place on previous occasions and what were the patterns.

In a chilling incident in 2019, 22 students lost lives when the coaching class they were studying in caught fire. Thereafter, the state government ordered closure of all classes for some time and the fire safety was also checked.

Yet even today, the majority of the tuition classes in the state lack fire safety equipment that are in functional condition.

Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani said that people have short memories. Citing the example of Morbi, he said the people still voted for the BJP.

Mevani clarified that he was not speaking as a politician, but as an aware citizen. Interestingly, contrary to people’s perception that the angry masses would vote for the Congress in the assembly elections, which were held two months after the incident, they voted for the BJP.

Mevani said that there is no hunger to take action like it was done in 9/11. When people are illiterate and gullible then such things happen, he added. He appreciated the Gujarat High Court for taking a suo moto cognisance in the case, but at the same time said that several of its orders given in the past are not being followed.

In the last four years, there have been four incidents of fire in hospitals in different parts of the state and 31 people lost their lives.

Here we are not even talking about the incidents of fire that have been taking place in the factories and industries leading to loss of lives.

Safety expert Jagdish Patel of the People’s Training and Research Centre that works for the rights of industrial workers said that there won’t be any miracle. “People will have to understand that they only have to do it,” he pointed out.

Patel observed that the workplaces are not adequately protected. “There are laws, but these are not used for prevention and only used for initiating action.” Patel alleged that such violations are not possible unless money exchanges hands. He suggested that there should be Income Tax raids on the premises of those who have been suspended in such fire incidents.

The National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment that came out in 2009 promised legal provisions of health and safety at all workplaces. “The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime reviewed it, and one does not know what happened after it,” Patel added.

The opposition Congress in Gujarat has called for a probe by a sitting HC or Supreme Court judge. Former Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela has written to the Gujarat Governor to set up a separate commissionerate of fire safety and disaster management. Interestingly, Gujarat does have Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority that started functioning in 2003.

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi visited Rajkot. They have promised strictest action. However, it remains to be seen whether they can ensure that such tragedies don’t happen in the future.