Fire one of the crucial resources since it’s the discovery and played a pivotal role in civilization to the modernization of Anthropos. It’s misuse by humans convert fire as a resource to resistance and when resistance of fire becomes furious that creates fire disaster. India and particularly its capital city is highly vulnerable to fire, which is evidenced through the 31000 and 85 calls yearly and daily respectively by Delhi population to fire department to douse it. Which is evident through Anaj Mandi Fire incidence which occurred in the New Anaj Mandi of Rani Jhansi Road, Sadar Bazar, Old Delhi in early winter morning of 8th December 2019, due to electrical short circuit, which deceased 45 people, injured more than 20 people seriously and impacted economically, socially and psychologically to thousands of population, so pronounced as ‘Disastrous Devil of December’.
Source: The Asian Age
In the five-floor building number 8273 at list five different unlicensed units of manufacturing like bags, plastic toys, and jackets, etc were running with extensive storage of combustible raw materials like plastics, rexine, cardboard, etc and provision of food and night stay for workers at the same sight of work, absence of proper ventilation facility, blockage of exit gates, few windows, just one narrow entrance, turned the building into an inferno around 5 am. It was the worst fire tragedy in Delhi after the incidence of 1999, Lal Kuan in the last twenty years.
Rescue operation of a firefighter to combat this disastrous event lasted for around six hours. In rescue total, 150 firefighters were involved with 30 fire tender in service and use of 1.5 lakh liters of water to sprinkle. The main agencies involved in the rescue were Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service, Forensic Science Laboratory, CATS Ambulance, National Disaster Response Force, and Delhi Civil Defence.
Source: Times of India and Hindustan Times, 9th December 2019
Poor design of the building, haphazard construction, improper electric wiring, lack of public awareness, illegal industries, congested lanes, absence of fire safety measure, etc. were the major causative factor for this incidence, so to check such incidences in future there is an urgent need of public awareness about fire safety and implementation of laws and rules at a grassroots level by the concerned authorities.
