CM Yogi expresses grief over deaths in hotel fire, orders joint probe

New Delhi: Expressing deep grief and concern over the death of people due to a fire outbreak in a hotel in Lucknow on Monday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a joint probe by the Divisional Commissioner and the Police Commissioner of Lucknow to ascertain the cause of the blaze.

Yogi Adityanath also visited the injured being treated in the hospital to know their well-being and directed the concerned officers to ensure proper and free treatment of the injured.

Director General Fire Services, Avinash Chandra, informed “As per directions given by the Chief Minister in wake of the incident, a campaign regarding fire audit, safety, and evacuation is being conducted in all hospitals, nursing homes, and hotels across the state on September 5 and 6.”

During the campaign, awareness regarding fire safety will be also generated among the people, he added.

Ensuring a safe environment for every citizen of the state, in line with the instructions of the Chief Minister, the Fire services department has been conducting fire audits, safety and evacuation rehearsals, and mock drill from time to time.

In his review meetings with the officials, the CM regularly gave instructions on conducting a detailed physical review of fire and electrical safety mechanisms at all the hospitals and medical colleges. He also directed that wherever required, the system should be updated to avoid any kind of mishappenings.

It is to be noted that to avert fire mishaps amid summers, the Uttar Pradesh government held the statewide ‘Fire Safety Week’ from April 14 till April 20, 2022, with special emphasis on ‘Prevention is better than Cure’ ensuring that loss caused by fire is the least.

In order to effectively implement fire and electrical safety mechanisms at all places, in the last five months, weekly fire audits, and mock drills were carried out at various places including banks, schools, coaching institutes, hospitals, nursing homes, malls and multiplexes, industrial establishments, petrol pumps, government buildings, residential apartments of over 15 metres height, firecrackers storage houses, powerplant, airport and metro stations among others.

Instructions on behalf of the CM were issued ranging from utilising the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) to prevent such incidents to ensuring the provision of a fire tender facility in all tehsils.

Directions were also given to maintain caution and carry out a physical review of fire safety arrangements at all places.