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Lucknow: No lesson learnt, Charbagh hotels are ticking firebombs, say locals
Situated in narrow lanes with only one entrance and exit each, most Charbagh hotels in Lucknow don’t even have a fire escape or fire alarm
A man’s death in a blaze at a Naka Hindola eatery in Lucknow on Thursday night has once again shown that no lesson has been learnt despite several incidents of fire, particularly in and around the congested Charbagh area in the last few years.
Situated in narrow lanes with only one entrance and exit each, hotels in Charbagh are ticking fire bombs, residents have said. These establishments need to strengthen their fire safety systems, they added.
Most of the Charbagh hotels don’t have emergency exits or a fire alarm.
Thursday night’s blaze came about four years after six people died in a fire at Hotels Virat and SSJ international in Charbagh on June 19, 2018. Only a few lower-rung engineers have been suspended or transferred in connection with that blaze.
On September 5, 2022, four people died in a blaze at hotel Levana Suites on Madan Mohan Malviya Marg in Lucknow’s Hazratganj area.
About five months before that, on April 13, 2022, around 100 people were rescued after a fire at Hotel Savy Grand in Gomti Nagar. There was no casualty.
Commenting on Thursday night’s blaze, mayor Sanyukta Bhatia said, “The absence of a fire escape management system shows that the building was not prepared to be a hotel and restaurant. It’s for the LDA (Lucknow Development Authority) and the fire department to see such incidents don’t occur again.”
She said, “Now, the LDA must see how many hotels are operating with or without valid maps. The fire department must see whether these hotels have adequate fire safety equipment.”
Additional municipal commissioner Pankaj Singh said,” We will check if these buildings are paying commercial or residential house tax. This is the only thing which we have in our control. The rest of the powers lie with the LDA and fire department.”
Sayyed Yawar Hussain Reshu, leader of opposition in the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) house said, “There are hundreds of hotels, complexes and apartments in our city. Just look at Charbagh, where hotels have come up in narrow lanes in which even fire tenders can’t enter.”
“The Guru Nanak market, where flats were made for refugees, has been converted into hotels. Those operating the hotels are so influential that even authorities are afraid of taking them on despite knowing that they are illegal; 95% of city hotels are violating fire safety norms,” he said.
After the Levana Suits tragedy, the divisional commissioner had directed the LDA vice chairman Indramani Tripathi to find out how many hotels were operating in the city without approved maps.
Amid the popular perception that nothing has been done yet, LDA VC Tripathi said, “The LDA has already taken action over building against maps or violating fire safety norms. Ninety-four such buildings were sealed.”
But Congress spokesperson Mukesh Singh Chauhan countered the claim, “The sealing of 94 buildings was just a show-off. You can go and see construction work is going on in these buildings despite a seal from the outside. The zonal officers of LDA have even assured many seals would be opened soon.”
