Mundka Fire: NHRC slams Delhi government, says authorities 'learnt little' from incidents in past

The horrifying fire incident at Delhi’s Mundka has now grabbed the attention of National Human Rights Commission. The statutory public body has expressed serious concern and has spoken upon the callousness of authorities. It has also asked the Delhi government to submit a report within two weeks including action taken against the responsible authorities and officers.

Further the NHRC has asked the Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi to fix the culpability and status of disbursement of the rehabilitation or relief that has been announced by the government. Also, the Commission has decided to send the team immediately for an on the spot investigation.

Also, READ: Delhi Mundka Fire Update: 27 killed amid massive blaze, over 30 still missing

The NHRC’s notice also hints at the fire incident to be gross violation of human rights of the victims. As per the Commission, this is about utter apathy and complete dereliction of statutory duties of public servants.

The fire incident took place in a four-storey building in outer Delhi’s Mundka. It started on the first floor of the building which houses the office of a firm manufacturing CCTV cameras and router. The incident has led to the death of 27 people and over a dozen were injured.

The company’s owners – Harish Goel and Varun Goel are currently in detention.

Further, expressing disgust at the occurrence of the fire incident, the NHRC said that it has once “again established that the city authorities have learnt little from similar incidents in the past that exposed the utter lack of fire safety mechanisms and the gaping holes in their implementation.”

Also, READ: Mundka fire tragedy: 27 killed in commercial building blaze in Delhi, building owner absconding

The Commission stated that observing the matter unveils that the authorities are least bothered to consider the earlier recommendations in similar incidents in the past.

NHRC expresses serious concern over fire incident in Mundka and reported callousness of authorities; calls for report from Delhi Govt in two weeks; also decides to send its team immediately for an on the spot investigation pic.twitter.com/qfGLnWQZRC

— ANI (@ANI) May 15, 2022

The notice states that the NHRC has observed media reports that claim that the building had no sanctioned plan and that the factory was operating without any license.