The National Human Rights Commission on Friday said it has issued notices to Delhi chief secretary and police commissioner over the death of 11 workers in a recent fire incident in Alipur.
Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports that several workers were charred to death in a massive fire that broke out inside a paint factory in Alipur on February 15, the rights body has sought a detailed report in the matter within six weeks.
The report should include the status of the FIR and the disbursement of compensation to the aggrieved families, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said.
It also asked about the action taken against the “delinquent” officers, responsible for the tragedy.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights.
“It is not an isolated incident of fire where innocent workers have died due to negligence by the employers and the authorities in the national capital in the recent past. The public servants appear to have not taken any lessons from the previous tragedies,” the rights body said.
Besides this, the Commission said it has also directed the government to conduct a survey of all industrial units manufacturing hazardous chemicals and other inflammable substances, running illegally without following the safety guidelines as per the Factories Act in the national capital, and submit a report within six weeks.
The report should also include the steps taken/proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents violating the right to life of innocent people do not recur, it said.
It may be mentioned that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. Eleven people lost their lives in the tragic incident.