India will collapse one day under the weight of greed, inefficiency and neglect. Oh yes, we will still develop nuclear bombs and missiles to carry them, and continue to demand the UN Security Council seat that alone can do justice to superpower aspirations. But the fire in Kolkata’s AMRI Hospital with 93 casualties up to the time of writing reminds us that behind the international bravado, the fabric of life for ordinary Indians is rotting away. Accidents can happen anywhere. But this tragedy is part of a pattern that can be traced to the get-rich-quick frenzy that grips this country.

Building, education and medicare are the three most abused sectors. There are honorable exceptions in all three fields, but also armies of operators who cut corners, pull strings and trample on all standards. They raise a hue and cry over any attempt to impose safety or other regulations (not that the regulators are much better) as “harassment”. Harassment (read safety rules) can be evaded by greasing palms, either of those charged with enforcing the law or the politicians above them.
Mamata Banerjee has promised a judicial commission; a fire safety audit has already started. But we know already that the National Building Code’s 88-page chapter on “Fire and Life Safety” is largely ignored because implementation would eat into profits. Periodic inspections before issuing “No Objection Certificates (NOC)” would also mean work for the fire inspectors and their bosses charged with enforcing the West Bengal Fire Services Act. It’s much simpler — and infinitely more agreeable — to turn the NOC into a purchasable commodity. Everybody is happier and pockets are lined all round.
One of the two partners in a construction firm I know is a civil engineer. So, he issues the Completion Certificate for the buildings he and his partner build but without disclosing his role in the construction. It’s like a murderer who is also a doctor signing his victim’s death certificate! No wonder so many multi-storied buildings collapse all over the country. Demands for emergency exits, firefighting equipment or second lifts are treated as requests for bribes… which, sadly, they often are.
The increasing demand for education offers similar scope to unscrupulous entrepreneurs. India boasts some fine private schools and, more recently, has acquired a number of highly reputable privately owned institutions of higher learning. But not all English-medium schools boast acceptable facilities. An extremely popular one in Kolkata is no more than a massive crammer: several sections to each class, classes in several shifts like a factory and no recreational arrangements for the thousands of boys and girls. Capitation fee (a polite word for bribery) at higher levels of education has caused too many scandals to need repetition.
Medicare is the worst. There are exceptions like the Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital in Delhi which caught fire in the 1980s but whose 400 patients could all be evacuated within 45 minutes because the equipment was in place and working. But if the rules were applied, more than half of the 80 or more private nursing institutions in and around Kolkata would have to be closed. Beds are crammed into wards instead of being six feet apart as legally stipulated, ayahs are passed off as nurses, bathrooms are filthy and there’s no resident medical officer (RMO). For many years, one of Kolkata’s best-known nursing homes rented out its top floor flat to a doctor in private practice elsewhere. He had no professional connection with the nursing home that was his landlord, but was shown on paper as its RMO. “Our patients prefer their own doctors,” the matron said blandly when I questioned the fraud. A legislator intervened when the authorities ordered a suburban nursing home to close down because it flouted all rules.
According to reports, the seven-storey AMRI Hospital, with an annual turnover of over `180 crores, had no operational fire or smoke alarm, no sprinklers and no portable fire extinguishers. There were no evacuation drills or trained staff to carry them out. Though officially designated a parking lot, not a car could be seen in the two-tier basement. While the second tier had been converted into a diagnostic centre, the first housed offices, stores, trailing wires and inflammable and radioactive material. The fire extinguishers for the entire building were hidden behind other things and not easily accessible. No lessons were learnt from a fire in 2008.
The 1997 Uphaar cinema fire in Delhi showed that conditions are much the same everywhere. One report says at least 27 big Delhi hospitals, including AIIMS’ cardiovascular and neurosciences centre, function without fire clearances despite reminders. Entrepreneurs make use of every inch of land and maximise profits without thought for comfort or safety. Ambulances and fire engines can’t push their way to emergencies through traffic jams, pavements are too clogged with hawkers for easy movement and many shopping markets are built of flimsy inflammable material. It’s a wonder that more bridges don’t give way and more railway lines don’t buckle under. Road repairs don’t last out the monsoon because the pitch is adulterated. The pact between contractors and inspectors ensures tests are carried out only on prearranged sites.
I rejoiced to read the Alipore Bar Association’s decision that no member would defend the accused in the AMRI Hospital carnage. But, expectedly, other lawyers stepped in. There’s always someone to defend the indefensible. Perhaps that sense of justice is to be commended. Innocence must be presumed until guilt is proved. But why have the two government directors (the state government owns 1.99 per cent of equity)
also not been charged? As I repeat, it’s a wonder India holds out.

The writer is a senior journalist, columnist and author