A narrow, dingy staircase, which doubled as the sole entry and exit; absence of emergency exit doors, much simpler to put in place than in aircraft; and scarcely any ventilation in any of the halls or rooms—the sordid and shocking details that are emerging about the three-storey building that went up in flames in Lucknow on June 22, killing at least 15 people, seem strikingly similar to the lapses in hostels, coaching centres, hospitals, and business centres that were the sites of recent fire outbreaks as well as in the distant past.

Urban Congestion And Civic Failure

We banish slums, an eyesore for the well-heeled, to the fringes of the city, like the mega rehabilitation centres at Mangolpuri and Sultanpuri in Delhi. But when it comes to decongesting the shopscape, we hardly bestir ourselves. Chandni Chowk, with its Byzantine lanes choc-a-bloc with shops; Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai; and Bara Bazaar in Kolkata are equally eyesores but romanticised as middle-class shopping centres, harking back to ancient civilisation. In such bazaars, disasters do strike time and again, with lanes frustratingly coming in the way of ambulances and fire brigades, but once the sound and fury of the public and the media are over, it is business as usual.

In the US, one is pleasantly surprised by the uniformity and conformity when it comes to shopping-complex layout and design. A country known for its empowerment of the states, such uniformity bespeaks a heightened civic sense both among the public and the town planners. Shop owners........

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