Are death trap eateries in Mumbai way beyond redemption?

It happened with the first innocuous transgression. Some money changed hands, a flaw was overlooked and a license issued to an outlet when it should not have been. It emboldened the second guy to dish out some more and get an even bigger flaw regularized. Soon there came a time when even basic construction or fire safety norms were willfully compromised and the gravy train became so attractive that everyone was willing to ride it.

If anyone believes that the loss of 14 lives is going to change anything is living in a fool’s paradise for sure. Too much is invested in illegal construction, unauthorized eateries and business locations over decades and if the original laws are to be followed, more than half the town would need to be torn down. Besides, the trail would lead to the rich and powerful and the clamour would rise to bring them to justice. In effect, many surviving and even serving law makers, town planners, architects, shop owners and politicians would be jail bound. Therefore, it is impractical to expect anything to change today and we will continue to pay for the sins of our ancestors.

However, it is still possible to stem the rot now. To begin with, fire prevention and avoidance of tragedies like the Kamala Mills one can only be achieved in the true sense if proper norms are strictly followed at the construction stage itself. Any closed area must necessarily have bare basics like fire extinguisher, first aid kits, emergency lighting systems, exigency signages and other paraphernalia to preempt any mishap in future and if at all it were still to occur, the people in the middle should get ‘hand-holding’ guidance from lights and signs to find the nearest exit or safe area.

Prolite believes in its mission to help prevent tragedies and mishaps. We do not wait for tragedies to happen but actually play our part in prevention to begin with. Our products conform to the requirements as defined by the law. We provide quality and durability as per the fire safety and other basic parameters of safety that are defined by the existing building codes.

Prolite believes in playing a major role in ensuring safety of enclosed spaces-‘Constuction ke saath bhi, construction ke baad bhi’