Vijay K. Saluja*
A tragedy of monumental proportions happened in Delhi,on Tuesday,the 12th February,2019.I can say it was BLACK TUESDAY for many families in India.Seventeen persons perished in big fire which engulfed a hotel located in central Delhi.About thirty five have been seriously injured.The survivors have very sorry & sad tales to tell, about the ways they escaped from inferno? Sad incident like this has not happened for the first time in Delhi or any other city/metro?These keep on happening at regular intervals, at various times, in various cities!
Soon after these mishaps, starts the visits to the site of the minister, local elected representatives , chief ministers,other concerned officials from the municipal corporations,police, et al, who meet the survivors, interact with the officials of the other organisations who also rush to the site & return after announcing the compensation for the deceased & assuring to the media representatives,survivors & the assembly of on-lookers, that a high -level enquiry would be ordered.
The same drill happened in this case,too.Besides, only, the manager & the general manager of the hotel has been arrested.Blame game between the political parties has also started.Officials of the concerned government departments have started pulling their strings,to save themselves from the punitive measures
Various channels except one or two in the TV are as usual busy in their normal activities-covering political events, kumbh mela,bollywood-stories et al.These BIG human tragedies & mishaps because of official negligence/poor governance, do not affect the media,the way it should?!
Why?Have you asked yourself?I ask myself.But,I do not get any plausible answer?!It is a question of CONSCIENCE,to my mind,which I feel is DEAD,now .
What do you feel?What is the remedy so that these human tragedies do not occur in future/How the System can be made more caring/responsible?
*Director,Giraffe Heroes India www.giraffe.org/global/india
Senior Fellow,Institute of Social Sciences,New Delhi www.issin.org
Former,Chief Engineer,New Delhi Municipal Council
Past President,IIT Delhi Alumni Association
