There have been many incidents of fire in government offices in J&K in the past but it seems that the people concerned have not learned any lessons because in yet another case fire broke out in the office of the District Mineral Officer (DMO) Jammu at New Plot area causing damage to office property. This has once again exposed a serious and recurring lapse in safety preparedness.
Fortunately there was no loss of life in the inferno but damage to records is a serious matter. Hopefully, as the government has been boasting that almost all the records have been digitized, it is anticipated that the files burnt in this mishap will be retrieved from the digital back-up. It is important to note that government offices cannot take things lightly because they house significant data pertaining to matters of public interests.
It is a matter of grave concern that despite the fact that safety of data, other infrastructure and also the lives of employees, fire safety has been treated lightly rather than making it a thing of paramount importance because it is not optional but essential to protect public property, important files and above all human lives.
It is pertinent to mention that the officials in the aforesaid office have blamed short circuit as the cause of fire claiming that the incident happened when they were away for lunch. They said the staff initially attempted to douse the flames on their own but later informed the Fire and Emergency Department. Though fire tenders brought the blaze under control but till that time reportedly some office files, furniture and other items, including computers and printers, were either partially or completely damaged.
Such incidents should be taken very seriously and the police should also investigate the matter by looking at all the angles including sabotage because the fire broke out during working hours. It is necessary that the government at the highest level should issue directions to all the offices across the Union Territory to carry out fire safety audits on regular basis and in case of such incidents, it is desirable that accountability should be set and whosoever is responsible should be taken to task as no government official should be allowed to take things for granted and later come out with ‘absurd’ alibis like in the aforesaid case that short circuit was behind the fire incident.
