New Delhi: Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports that as many as 27 people died in a major fire in a four-storey office in Mundka in the national capital earlier on Friday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Sunday issued notice to Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to submit a report within two weeks, including action taken against the responsible authorities/ officers, fixing the culpability and status of disbursement of the relief/ rehabilitation granted by the government if any.
Issuing the notice, the NHRC has observed that going by the contents of media reports, this appears to be the worst case of gross violation of human rights of the victims due to utter apathy and complete dereliction of statutory duties of public servants in the national capital causing loss of valuable lives due to fire.
The NHRC has also asked its Director General to send a team immediately to conduct an on the spot investigation in the matter.
“Looking into the gravity of the matter and observing that the authorities appear to have least bothered on its earlier recommendations in similar incidents in the past, the Commission has also asked its Director General to send a team immediately to conduct an on the spot investigation in the matter. According to the media reports, carried today on 15th May, 2022, the building had no sanctioned plan and the factory was operating without any licence,” the NHRC said in a release.
“The fact has reportedly come out in an enquiry conducted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. There are hundreds of such buildings are operational from congested quarters with authorities struggling to curb them. There are several areas in Delhi where even fire tenders cannot enter because of rampant unauthorised constructions,” the release added.
The NHRC said this fire incident has reportedly once again established that the “city authorities have learnt little from similar incidents in the past” that exposed the “utter lack of fire safety mechanisms and the gaping holes in their implementation”.
The NHRC further said a fire incident had occurred in Anaj Mandi area of Delhi in 2019, according to a news report, in which 43 people had lost their lives, adding it after taking suo-motu cognizance of the matter directed the authorities to lay down an action plan to tackle the problem of illegal industrial activities in the national capital.
“Reportedly, a Special Task Force (STF) was formed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and an Inter-departmental Committee was formed by the MCD. The panel had submitted its action plan in the year 2020 and the STF gave its recommendations in 2021 but both have not yet been implemented,” the NHRC said.
“Reportedly, the probe report for fixing culpability of officials in the Anaj Mandi fire incident was never made public. It is also mentioned in the news report that the Urban Development Department of the Government of NCT of Delhi had issued an order to Delhi Fire Service and the civic bodies, relaxing some of the norms, which were made strict after the earlier fire incidents occurred in Delhi,” the release added.