The Telangana government on Monday ordered a multi-disciplinary probe into the devastating fire accident near Gulzar Houz, which killed 17 people, even as the Opposition BRS demanded an increased ex-gratia amount of Rs 25 lakh per person and a fire audit, blaming the government for being unprepared to tackle such emergencies.
The entire Charminar area wore a sombre look as pearl jewellery shops and other establishments in the surrounding Charkaman area kept their shutters closed, in mourning after Sunday’s tragedy.
A complaint was formally lodged at Charminar police station over the fire incident, which led to the deaths of 17 people and the burning down of two shops on the ground floor, Modi Pearls and Krishna Pearls, by a close relative, Utkarsh Modi.
The transport minister, Ponnam Prabhakar, who is also in charge of Hyderabad, said the government has ordered a joint probe by police, fire services, civic body GHMC, revenue department, and Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) and submit a report to the state government.
Yesterday’s inferno has once again exposed that the old buildings in the congested Old City are actually fire traps with narrow single entrances and passages, shuttered windows and without any fire alarms installed. Some of these buildings are more than a century old and equipping them with fire safety measures poses a huge challenge. Commercial establishments run from the same buildings as residential ones, posing greater hazards.
Yesterday’s fire began in the shops on the ground floor before spreading to the residential quarters on the upper floors. Since the shops stocked expensive jewellery and pearls, there were locks and shutters and not much ventilation.
Even the entrance of the old building near Gulzar Houz had two-wheelers parked in the front, which posed further problems for firefighters to gain access. The extensive wood panelling work inside was also blamed for the severity of the tragedy.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who visited the scene of the tragedy today, termed it as “criminal negligence,” alleging that the first fire tender did not have water and equipment, and ambulances did not carry oxygen masks.
“People understand that accidents do happen. But family members are saying if there were water in the fire tenders and oxygen masks in ambulances, perhaps some lives could have been saved,” said Rao.
Taking a dig at chief minister A Revanth Reddy, he said, “I would like to tell the government that whatever ex gratia you have announced, it is not enough because there have been huge property losses. At least announce Rs 25 lacs per person and more importantly, review the situation. The chief minister himself is the home minister, but he is busy with beauty contests.”
Rao also demanded a fire audit and that emergency services personnel be equipped to attend to mishaps.