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By:

C.S. Krishnamurthy

21 June 2025 at 2:15:51 pm

When Safety Fails

The devastating fire at a lodging facility in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, which claimed 21 lives, had barely faded from public memory when another catastrophe unfolded in Lucknow. Fifteen students and staff members perished after a blaze engulfed a 3D animation centre housed in a commercial building in Aliganj. Several others sustained injuries, with some jumping from the first floor in desperate attempts to escape. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi...

When Safety Fails

The devastating fire at a lodging facility in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, which claimed 21 lives, had barely faded from public memory when another catastrophe unfolded in Lucknow. Fifteen students and staff members perished after a blaze engulfed a 3D animation centre housed in a commercial building in Aliganj. Several others sustained injuries, with some jumping from the first floor in desperate attempts to escape. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief, a high-level inquiry was announced. Property owners and officials came under scrutiny. Yet, amid the familiar expressions of anguish and promises of accountability, an unsettling question surfaced once again. Why do such disasters continue to recur despite countless lessons from the past? Initial reports indicated that the Lucknow fire may have been caused by a short circuit. Eyewitnesses alleged that fire services took nearly forty minutes to arrive, by which time flames had engulfed the entire building. Wooden interiors reportedly accelerated the spread of the blaze. In Delhi, preliminary investigations suggested that the six-room Bed and Breakfast establishment had expanded into a 26-room operation, while a licence issued for a tea stall allegedly covered a full-fledged restaurant. The similarities are too striking to ignore. Buildings become death traps not overnight, but through years of accumulated violations, administrative indifference and societal complacency. Shared Burden From the Karol Bagh hotel fire of 2019 to the Mundka commercial complex tragedy in 2022, the Vivek Vihar neonatal hospital fire in 2024 and now the twin horrors of Delhi and Lucknow, a disturbing pattern emerges. Regulations exist. Investigations follow. Arrests are made. Yet prosecutions move slowly, and memories fade until the next tragedy strikes. Blaming owners alone provides only partial answers. Legal responsibility undoubtedly rests with them, but the failures are institutional as much as individual. How do multiple violations continue in plain sight? How do unauthorised expansions, blocked exits, unsafe electrical systems and inadequate fire protection remain unnoticed by agencies entrusted with public safety? Even Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra admitted that it was impossible that nobody knew what was happening at the Malviya Nagar property. The Municipal Corporation, police, tourism department and fire authorities all possessed pieces of the regulatory puzzle, yet the complete picture escaped attention until lives were lost. Economics compounds the problem. Businesses often prioritise profitability over compliance. Tenants seeking premises focus on affordability and location. Consumers seldom ask whether a restaurant, coaching centre or hotel possesses valid fire clearances or emergency exits. Safety becomes somebody else’s responsibility. Sadly, this indifference extends even to hospitals, schools and care centres, where vulnerable individuals have little chance of escape during emergencies. Preventive Governance Experts increasingly argue that India must move from reactive firefighting to preventive governance. Japan offers an instructive example. Following devastating earthquakes and fires, stringent regulations were supplemented by independent certification systems and insurance mechanisms. Buildings that fail to comply face financial consequences. Safety is viewed not as a burden but as an investment. Several Indian cities have also begun employing technology-driven solutions. Geographic Information Systems and digital platforms now allow public access to approvals and fire safety clearances in selected zones. Transparency enables both authorities and citizens to verify whether establishments operate within permissible limits. Yet technology alone cannot compensate for weak enforcement. Routine inspections have often been diluted in the name of ease of doing business. Random audits become paper exercises. Fire drills are conducted merely to satisfy procedural requirements. Such cosmetic compliance creates an illusion of preparedness without guaranteeing actual safety. Perhaps the most urgent reform required is cultural rather than administrative. Safety must cease to be treated as an inconvenience. Emergency exits cannot serve as storage spaces. Electrical systems cannot remain neglected. Structural audits cannot be optional. Societies are ultimately judged not merely by how efficiently they punish the guilty after disasters, but by how effectively they prevent avoidable deaths. Every tragedy leaves behind grieving families and solemn promises. Delhi and Lucknow are separated by hundreds of kilometres, yet both tell the same painful story. Human lives were extinguished not simply by fire, but by a chain of compromises stretching across institutions, businesses and society itself. The true measure of progress lies not in the speed with which compensation is announced or arrests are made. It lies in ensuring that safety never becomes an afterthought and that convenience, profit and administrative complacency never outweigh the sanctity of human life. (The writer is a retired banker and author. Views personal.)

India working on logistics of Tahawwur Rana's extradition

  • PTI
  • Feb 14, 2025
  • 3 min read

Updated: Feb 18, 2025

Tahawwur Rana

Washington: India is working on the logistics of Tahawwur Rana's surrender and extradition from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said, as President Donald Trump announced that his administration has given the go-ahead to extradite the 26/11 terror attack accused “to face justice".

“This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you've seen the President announce it himself from the White House podium" the decision of the US to extradite Rana, Misri said at a press conference here on Thursday.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Tahawwur Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.


In response to a question by PTI on the timeframe by when Rana will be extradited to India, Misri said: "We are working on the logistics of his surrender and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed. The two sides are in touch on this particular issue.”


The India-US joint statement issued during the Prime Minister's visit to the US notes that Modi and Trump reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.

“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021," the joint statement said.


“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved," it said.


The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks.

"The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors,” the joint statement added.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.

Speaking at the joint press meet, Trump said "Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice."


The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


India last month said it was working with American authorities for the early extradition of Rana.


"The US Supreme Court on January 21 declined to hear a petition from the accused. We are now working with the US side on procedural issues for early extradition to India of the accused in the Mumbai terror attack," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

-PTI

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