Blaze in marriage hall in Dhanbad exposes safety lapses, firefighters save 60

Around 60 people trapped by a marriage hall blaze were rescued from the building’s rooftop by firefighters on Monday night. While there was no serious injury or death, and the fire was brought under control, the late-night incident exposed the safety lapses in such facilities.

The fire broke out at the district board marriage hall, located next to Luby Circular Road, allegedly due a short circuit during a wedding ceremony. Fire tenders reached the spot within 10 minutes of getting a call, and rescued the people on the roof.

Officer-in-charge of Dhanbad Fire Station Amrit Lal Bhaskar said that the fire started in the electrical panel located near the stairs, and firefighting operations were hampered by the lack of fire extinguishers. Incidentally, he added, the office room constructed under the stairs using plywood boards aggravated the fire. “The incident happened around 10.30pm, when the people participating in a marriage function had gone upstairs to have dinner. No one was injured, as we safely doused the fire and rescued all. The building had only one exit route,” said Bhaskar.

He added that despite repeated instructions, nothing was done to instal fire safety systems in marriage halls. “It’s not only this building, but almost all government buildings, government-owned marriage halls, and public buildings don’t follow fire safety norms,” he said.

Sharing his experience, Bhaskar said that often buildings were inspected and a fire safety-related advisory was issued, but then “it was thrown into the dustbin by government officials”.

According to available reports, the new town hall next to the Golf Ground and yet another marriage hall owned by the district board near the town hall lack effective firefighting facilities. Same is the case with the Vivah Mandap of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation located at Babudih and with the privately-run marriage halls that have come up without specific permissions from the fire department.

Bhaskar said that he was investigating the cause of this latest fire at the marriage hall. In the next two days, he would prepare a comprehensive note on government buildings that lack firefighting facilities and hand it over to the district deputy commissioner as well as to his superiors for specified action against violators.