Fire Takes Lives, System Looks Away

Hyderabad:Two years passed, yet the neighbours and shopkeepers near the Deccan Knit Wear premises still shudder when passing the now-vacant plot where a fire claimed the lives of three workers. They vividly recall the thick black smoke that engulfed the area, forcing residents to vacate their homes for several days. Despite an intensive rescue operation, the bodies were never fully recovered. The case, registered at Ramgopalpet police station in January 2023, is still awaiting trial. The recent Gulzar Houz fire has reignited concerns over how fire mishap cases are investigated and closed.

Wondering what happened to the probe? Most fire accident investigations end with a conclusive report citing “accidental fire” as the cause. Only about 10 per cent of such cases make it to court. The rest are closed without prosecution.

A fire official said residential complexes below 15 metres and commercial buildings below 18 metres do not require a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire department, leaving approvals to GHMC. This legal loophole limits the fire department’s ability to act against violators. “Even in serious violations, offenders are rarely jailed. At most, they face fines of `5,000 or `10,000. In many cases, fire violations aren’t registered independently but are clubbed with law and order cases,” he explained.

In the Ramgopalpet case, the deceased workers were identified as Vashim Patni, Soketh Chand Dunda and Bhanava Bapusa. Their remains were barely recovered — just a muscle fragment from the first, a skull piece and bones from the second and only a piece of burnt cloth from the third. Police later filed a chargesheet naming Mohammad Owais, one of the Deccan Knit Wear owners, who had allegedly sent the three men inside the building to retrieve leftover materials. The case was later altered to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

A brother of one of the deceased said, “Cremation or burial gives closure. We didn’t get that. The pain still haunts us. All we received was a burnt cloth, a muscle fragment or a bone piece that needed DNA testing. We lost hope—and faith.” A nearby shop owner recalled, “I still remember those black fumes. I told my staff to cover their noses and evacuate. A friend driving in from Begumpet told me that he saw the smoke from there. That’s how massive it was.” A neighbour and eyewitness said, “I alerted our apartment residents. Our building is right next to Deccan Knit Wear. We couldn’t stay that night. Officials later told us to move elsewhere for a few days.”

One officer involved in the rescue said, “I entered with a fire extinguisher. If we had been one minute late, the toll could’ve been five, including us. That one minute saved us, but not the workers.” Another added, “We even sent a drone inside to look for victims. It melted.” An officer explained that fire investigations require reports from multiple departments — GHMC for building permissions, fire department for safety norms, electricity department for wiring and load capacity and forensics for chemical analysis. These are compiled into a chargesheet under relevant IPC sections, with the court deciding the outcome.

Despite initial plan approvals, follow-up inspections by GHMC and the fire department are rare. Officials admit that buildings often appear compliant during approval checks but later violate norms by adding unauthorised floors or neglecting safety protocols. Fire officials do not regularly verify whether fire equipment is functional. Even the traffic department seldom inspects emergency access or parking provisions.

“When law and order police stations receive reports suggesting accidental fire, the case is typically closed. No one is held accountable and violators continue operations, often manipulating the system — until another fire occurs,” the officer said.