Friday’s early morning deadly fire at AMRI, an upmarket multi-speciality hospitality in south Kolkata, has understandably stunned and outraged people in the city. It should also leave people across the country incandescent with rage: 89 people, nearly all of them seriously-ill and unable to escape the blaze and smoke, perished in the disaster which was easily preventable. Worse, it is a measure of humanity in these troubled times that the hospital staff, on whom the patients were dependent for their lives, were the first to flee. They deserve to be pitilessly punished as much as those who are responsible for the day-to-day management of the hospital; the owners of AMRI, who have surrendered to the police, should be given exemplary punishment so that other ‘entrepreneurs’ are not tempted to cut corners while minting money.
That, however, will not bring this tragedy to a closure for which two other issues need to be addressed. Apparently AMRI was warned in September by civic officials about the mess in its basement, from where Friday’s fire began, and asked to clean up its act. Clearly, AMRI did not bother to do so: Given the ease with which punitive action for non-adherence to rules and regulations can be warded off by greasing the right palms, the hospital’s owners ignored the warning, secure in the belief nothing would come of it. Second, it is now established that AMRI did not have any fire-fighting system in place, not even basic equipment, in contravention of mandatory rules. It is the responsibility of the Fire Department to monitor compliance and, in the event of non-compliance, to seal the premises. The Fire Department did not do so. The reasons for that failure are too well known to merit elaboration. Suffice to say that AMRI’s owners were operating by taking recourse to ‘business practices’ that militate against the law of the land. The Government of West Bengal owes an explanation on both these issues; it must also take demonstrative action against the concerned officials who so abjectly failed in fulfilling their responsibilities.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has inherited a system that is moth-eaten, ridden with corruption, inept and inefficient. The AMRI disaster, like the terrible crib deaths in Government hospitals, has been in the making for a while. It would have happened regardless of the party in power. But terrifying as Friday’s tragedy is, it also offers an opportunity to Ms Banerjee. She should now crack down on both officials and hospital authorities, enforce immediate compliance of fire safety rules by all private and public sector premises, and ruthlessly punish those who dare to cock a snook at the state. We must mourn the death of so many people in so frightening a manner. But to mourn and then forget them, as we tend to do every time an avoidable disaster strikes, would serve no purpose. This is not the time for maudlin sentiments, nor is it an occasion to pass the buck; it is the time to act. And Ms Banerjee should lead from the front, thereby setting a standard for other Chief Ministers to follow. Action should be transparent, swift and lethal; there is no scope for being lenient or showing mercy to those responsible for the ghastly loss of lives. To resolve and then to dither would be fatal.
