Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Of Fires, Collapses, Lal Doras and Other stories that Rich people tell
And while I write, 15 is the number of human lives lost, there maybe more. We have not counted the animals and pets that were lost to fire.
So why is this fire different from the one that happened in the Hauz Rani Hotel?
To be Honest it isnt.
The loss of life, was for similar reasons. 1. No second staircase or escape route. 2. Inability for rescue persons to enter the building 3. Norms and Permission flouted. 4. Operating at far above human occupancy building was sanctioned for or function that was permitted.
In the aftermath of the Delhi Fire and Building collapse we had some very vocal and “pro-people” activists call for the “Demolition of Urban Village” as seems to be the solution to every problem AFTER it as occurred, in contemporary India. You see a lot of it in UP, and Delhi now.
We might have heard the same call again after the fire in Lucknow, the difference however, is Aliganj is not a Lal Dora area.
I have roots in Lucknow, and continued to call it home throughout my years at School of Planning and Architecture, till I set up base and migrated to Delhi in 2004.
Aliganj is middle class suburb of Lucknow, developed by the LDA. Planned and plotted, with infrastructure, development controls and regulations. It has bye-laws and sanction processes put in place by state machinery. And wasmthen sold to buyers to build, in keeping with bye-laws and controls with a approval and sanctioning process in place. All of which must have been actioned to build this building, that has recently gone up in flames.
Aliganj is not an Urban village, that was co-opted, and so “exempt” of development control or process or procedure.
And yet Aliganj had a fire. Yes we have fires in all kind of buildings, so that is not saying much.
The Aliganj, Lucknow building fire was not in a Lal Dora area; instead, investigations by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) revealed it was an authorised plotted development scheme where a building approved strictly for residential use was illegally converted into a commercial complex - as reported by NDTV on its online portal.
It was used for a function it was not sanctioned for. It was allowed to be used for commercial activities without requisite exits, fire escape, refuges, proper ventilation .
And then it has a fire,
If we go by the logic that only Lal Dora spaces are unsafe, that should never have been the case. Fires should just automatically extinguish themselves once they realise they are in a state sanctioned, municipality authorised colony.
NO?
Aliganj is a planned colony, it has rules, I imagine, it must have an approval process, it must have checks and balances, it has state machinery. It must also have periodic inspections? Junior Engineers Executive Engineers, Fire Officers, etc who periodically inspect and sign off on these buildings and bear witness to their following the letter of the law.
Given all that and the legal standing of the colony, the fire honestly had no business raging there, and killing 15 people? No that was just not on!
I am reminded of the rather amusing video of the recent fire on the 12th floor of a posh Housing Complex in Noida - Ivy County Society in sector 75, where the fire service was apparently “watering plants” on the sixth floor.
It was both comical and reassuring to see that the rich and poor suffer from an equal indifference from the state machinery in times of distress - that soon turned a deep sadness and disappointment - these are our best cities in 2026.
Much as some people would have liked to pin this on the poor, clearly fires don’t seem to discriminate.
So the big question is - what actually causes fires?
Me, I’ll go with- “Fires are caused by bad governance and corrupt citizens and lack of enforcement. In case you hadn’t figured that out by now!” #fire #delhi #lucknow #regulations #norms #urbanism
