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Fire at weddings
 The Srirangam wedding tragedy,
which cost 62 lives, brought a rude shock to people all over India. But,
unfortunately, the incident has developed a paranoia about all marriage halls.
But who is really at fault? Is it the structure of the marriage hall or the
negligence of those who conduct weddings at these hall?
In fact, most of the marriage
halls are very safe, adhering to safety measures. But there may also be a few
halls which do not conform to the prescribed standards. But the Srirangam
incident has, unfortunately, raised a suspicion about the safety of all the
marriage halls.
Enquiries have revealed that
the Srirangam marriage hall was very spacious with enough exit points. It was
the marriage party which had decided to use the terrace for conducting the
marriage by constructing a thatched roof on their own. The height of the roof
was only 7 feet. When a powerful video focus light fell on a glossy paper
decoration and on the thatched roof, it created an unexpected fire and since the
height of the roof was only 7 feet, the fire spread so fast and the roof fell on
the people before they could escape, thereby claiming many lives.
 There is a vociferous cry from
all circles that combustible materials should not be allowed inside marriage
halls. But all the marriage rites are performed in front of a fire, so is it
possible to ban the use of fire? Is it also possible to ban the use of fire and
gas cylinders inside the kitchens of marriage halls?
So, people should take adequate
safety measures on their own as it has been mostly their negligence which caused
such incidents. In most village, marriages are performed under pandals with
thatched roofs and never in known history has such an horrible incident occurred
anywhere.
The reason is that the pandals
are constructed high enough to allow escape in case of any untoward incident.
Videographing the marriage is not at all a dangerous exercise if we exercise
proper caution in not using glossy paper decorations and thatched roofs.
 We cannot prohibit
videographing in marriages simply because it causes fire, but we must only think
of taking adequate precautionary measures to prevent fires.
At the same time, the Srirangam
incident should be an eye-opener for the civic authorities to regulate unsafe
marriage halls.
It is high time all the
marriage halls were brought under the licensing system and all safety measures
like proper provision of fire extinguishers, proper emergency exits, adequate
water in the premises to extinguish fire with broad staircase specifications
made mandatory. The construction of thatched roof may be prohibited inside the
marriage hall, except the deocration at the entrance.
The Srirangam incident has
also raised some serious sentimental issues:
 1. What would be the fate of
the marriage hall, where the tragedy struck at the first wedding after its
renovation?
2. The bride who lost her
parents and the bridegroom in the accident would be branded as an unlucky
creature and her future marital life may also become a question mark.
Normally, fire accidents during
the time of marriage would be considered as a good omen in villages. There was
also a fire accident during the marriage of famous Tamil comedian Vivek, a
decade ago, at a marriage hall in Habibullah road, Chennai, which was also
caused due to the high-power focus lights of a video camera, but cost no lives.
Vivek
wept during the accident fearing it as a bad omen, whereas his relatives
consoled him saying that it was a good omen. Rightly, after the marriage, Vivek
climbed the ladder of success and is now reaching dizzying heights.
Here is a valuable example for
those lives have been scorched by the Srirangam fire.
Harvey
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