Rajkot gaming zone fire: ‘Shocked’ Gujarat high court takes suo motu cognizance. ‘Man-made disaster…’

The Gujarat high court on Sunday took suo motu cognizance of the fire incident at TRP Game Zone in Rajkot.

That killed at least 27 people on Saturday evening, saying it was prima facie a “man-made disaster”. The issue will be heard in the Gujarat high court on Monday, May 27. The high court may issue a directive on the state’s game zone, news agency ANI reported.

Four children under the age of 12 were among the 27 people killed in the massive fire that swept through a game zone teeming with people enjoying a summer vacation outing on Saturday evening.

The bench of justices Biren Vaishnav and Devan Desai observed that such gaming zones and recreational facilities have come up without the necessary approvals from competent authorities, news agency PTI reported.

The bench directed advocates of the Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot municipal corporations to appear before it on Monday with instructions as to under what provisions of law the authorities led these units to be set up or continue to operate under their jurisdiction.

Gujarat high court on Rajkot game zone licenses
The Gujarat high court also wanted to know from the Gujarat government and the municipal corporations “whether such licenses, including the licenses to its use and compliance of fire safety regulations” were given to these respective (entertainment) zones that are in territorial jurisdiction of these corporations.

These entertainment zones, as newspapers suggest, have come up without the necessary approvals from the competent authorities, the high court said.

Quoting newspaper reports, the high court said temporary structures were created at the TRP Game Zone in Rajkot to overcome the hurdles caused in taking necessary permissions, no-objection certificates, including the fire NOC and construction permission.

Not just Rajkot, such game zones have come up in Ahmedabad city as well and they “pose a significant threat to public safety, specially the innocent children”, it said.

“Apart from having constructed such gaming zones/recreational activities, they have been put to use apparently, according to our information through the newspaper reports, without permission,” the court said.

“Prima facie, a man-made disaster has occurred where innocent lives of children have been lost” and families have grieved their loss, the “shocked” court said.

‘Highly inflammable materials stored at Rajkot game zone’: HC
A stock of highly inflammable materials such as petrol, fibres and fibre glass sheets were stored at the Rajkot game zone where the fire occurred, the court noted.

The court listed the suo motu petition for further hearing on Monday, with a direction to the panel advocates for the respective corporations to appear before it with instructions as to “under what provisions of law these corporations led these gaming zones/recreational facilities to be set up or continue and be put to use”.

The bench also allowed a civil application in a PIL on fire safety being heard by the court that was moved by the party-in-person, Amit Panchal, for urgent hearing.

In his note, Panchal claimed the devastating fire shows non-compliance with provisions of the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, Gujarat Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2013, the rules and regulations framed under it, and directions issued by the Supreme Court and the Gujarat HC.

SIT formed to probe Rajkot fire tragedy
The five-member Special Investigation Team formed by the Gujarat government, to conduct a probe into the incident and submit a report within 72 hours, reached Rajkot late Saturday night and held a meeting with the local administration.

Additional director general of police Subhash Trivedi, who heads the SIT, told reporters on Saturday night before the meeting that the incident was unfortunate and sad. He said the inquiry will begin immediately to find out those responsible for it and ensure no such incident is repeated in the future.

Additional commissioner of police (ACP) Vinayak Patel said 27 bodies were recovered from the incident site and taken to the city civil hospital.

Three persons were injured in the incident and their health condition was stable, he said.

“The bodies are charred beyond recognition, and we have completed the process of collecting the DNA samples of the bodies and the relatives who have claimed them so that the identity of the deceased can be established. The death toll is not likely to rise any further,” he said.

The exact cause of the massive fire is not yet known.

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief over the incident. PM Modi spoke to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday to enquire about the rescue and relief efforts. The CM has announced an ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and ₹50,000 to each injured.

After the fire broke out, Rajkot Police Commissioner Raju Bhargava told media persons that the cause of the blaze would be investigated and a message had been issued to all the gaming zones in the city to close operations. In the wake of the fire tragedy, the state director general of police has issued instructions to the commissioners of police and superintendents of police to inspect all the game zones in Gujarat and close those running without fire safety permission. The DGP has directed the police to carry out this procedure in coordination with fire officers of the municipalities and municipalities.