Fire at Calcutta AMRI hospital has consumed 90 lives, there is lot of grief and anger in the country, there is wide spread condemnation, there are calls for justice and some blame game. We had the same grief during the Uphaar cinema fire and during multiple building collapses in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat and Hyderabad. But as a nation our grief is fleeting we forget and move on till the next disaster happens. Our governments are blind and deaf.
It boils down fundamentally to the rotten system we have created, fully corrupt municipal administrations who certify buildings for fire safety closing their eyes. Corrupt town/urban planning officials who let buildings violate all rules (and regularize them after couple of years). All across the country business houses and greedy officials collude, take advantage of the lacunae in building permits and laws and violate all rules with impunity. These departments stink of corruption.
Surely AMRI authorities will face the law but I am afraid they may get out of the case with lighter sentences like in the Upahaar case. The struggle to ensure safety in public spaces and create accountability for innocent lives lost remains a distant dream in India.
No comments:
Post a Comment