A devastating fire in Hawaii in August 2023 destroyed over 2,000 buildings, killed nearly a hundred people and ravaged the landscape beyond recognition. Post-incident analyses revealed serious gaps in fire-containing strategies, inadequate funding, ineffective fire prevention policies, failure to activate the outdoor alarm system, insufficient pressure in fire hydrants and a failure to alert community that was on the cusp of incineration.
The wider view is as frightening. A UN report in 2022 projected a 14 percent increase in the number of wildfires by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of the century. In India, an April 2022 report from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water showed that almost two-thirds of our states are prone to high-intensity forest fires and there has been a 10-fold increase in fire incidents over the last two decades.
Fire incidents causing mass deaths and destruction in urban and factory areas have been neither less numerous, nor less catastrophic. The National Crime Records Bureau says that in 2021, 8,491 fire incidents across India resulted in 8,348 deaths and injuries to 485 people.
In December 1995, a devastating fire at the DAV Public School in Mandi, Haryana in a canopied marriage hall killed nearly 540 people, including 258 children. No less ghastly were the fires at the AMRI hospital in Kolkata in 2011 that killed 89 people or at a coaching centre in Surat in May 2019 that killed 22 students. Such events flag the indispensability of effective fire management to prevent such tragic losses of lives and property.
The adverse consequences of fire mishaps are staggering. Besides the loss of life and property, fire adversely affects the long-term health of survivors because of smoke inhalation and other injuries. The economic cost of rebuilding after a disaster is huge. In cases of wildfire, sensitive and carbon-rich ecosystems get degraded, worsening the effects of climate change. Natural habitats suffer the most, with some flora and fauna pushed to the brink of extinction.
Fire safety is a set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. They include protocols to prevent ignition of an uncontrollable fire and practices to limit its spread and impact. While different kinds of buildings like hospitals and schools require different sets of safety measures, these requirements must get integrated into the building plan at the construction stage and must also continue to be operationally effective during the life of the building. Controlling wildfires requires effective prevention strategies such as keeping watch during dry seasons and effective training of personnel. Most importantly, awareness about fire safety, which is the fulcrum of an effective preventive strategy, must be practised to avoid mishaps.
Twenty-five states including Delhi have enacted specific laws to deal with fire incidents. The Indian Forest Act of 1927 regulates wildfires in forests. It is surprising that some major states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand are yet to enact any legislation on fire safety.
There is a great amount of divergence among the state laws on matters such as establishment of fire stations, licensing and punishments for violation of fire regulations. The Union home ministry in 2019 issued a Model Fire Act, hoping to standardise the provisions for adoption by state governments. However, a majority of states have not updated or amended their existing laws in line with the Model Act. Further, even though many states have incorporated the provisions of the National Building Code of 2016 into local building bylaws and state fire laws, making the provisions mandatory, they are flagrantly violated in the absence of effective enforcement and lenient punishment provisions.
The efficacy of a regulatory statute depends on the certainty and severity of punishment. In metropolitans, compliance on fire safety has increased because of the statutory requirement of having a valid fire safety certificate as a precondition for sanction of the building occupancy certificate. Old buildings which are more vulnerable and even new ones in non-metropolitans manage to evade the law because of a lack of inspection and enforcement by fire directorates, thereby compromising on the certainty of punishment.
Most state fire services laws—except a few like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam—provide for extremely lenient and often ridiculous penalties for violation. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha demand a fine of up to `500 only. Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi provide for imprisonment up to three months and/or fine. Even the Indian Penal Code’s Section 285 provides for a maximum imprisonment of up to six months and/or fine up to Rs 1000 in case of negligent conduct endangering human life. The Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act of 2006 is the only statute that prescribes imprisonment up to three years and/or fine up to Rs 50,000 for wilful negligent conduct. On wildfires, Section 26 (b) of the Indian Forest Act of 1927 provides for punishment up to six months and/or fine of Rs 500 if anyone sets a reserve forest on fire.
Surely, adequate justification exists to enhance punishments in proportion to the potential of damage to make the statutes effective and deterrent. Greater awareness and severe punishment through stricter enforcement are the two foundations on which our fire strategy must rest to prevent conflagrations and minimise damage.
B K Sharma, Former Director General of Police, Odisha
(bksharma1962@yahoo.co.in)