NATIONAL NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM FIRE

                                

 Any museum, anywhere in the world tells the history of culture. So whenever there is any damage to any museum, natural, like in Nepal or manmade as in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, it hurts the museum world badly. Earlier I had written an extensive article in my blog ‘My Turn’ entitled West Asian Heritages in jeopardy giving a detailed account of merciless vandalism of archaeological objects in West Asia. On the heels of the same, the devastating fire in the National Natural History Museum, New Delhi has further shocked us.

In the night intervening last Monday/Tuesday, this incident of fire took place. Actually, located near Mandi House, this building belongs to FICCI which is rented out to this prestigious museum. In this 5-storey building, the fire took place on the top floor which later engulfed other areas. It is one of the two such national level museums in the country and so the loss of artefacts is by far a massive cultural loss. Though commissioned only some 25 years ago, the museum personnel had done a meticulous job for collecting rare objects. Some objects being the only available piece in India, the fire has caused an irreparable loss.

Several fire tenders were pressed into service which doused the flame after five hours of struggle. Though there was no casualty, but some fire-fighters have sustained burn injuries. All the living and retired personnel, associated with the opening of this unique museum are lamenting the shocking damage. On the other hand there is a strong public hue and cry to find out the cause and fix the responsibility for any administrative lapse. Dr. Venugopal, Director said that the fire preventing mechanism was in place. The FICCI authorites claim that from all angles, safety arrangements were there and the building had clearance from the concerned authorites. However, the firemen pointed about a defective power connection. They also complained that the hydrant was defective. Since artefacts fetch huge payment in the international market, as we have seen the ISIS doing in Syria, possibly some insider, out of greed might have committed the mischief. On the other hand the possibility of short-circuit, normally known cul[rit, also cannot be ruled out. The truth will emerge only after an effective enquiry.

Meanwhile the situation demands adequate preventive measures to stop such a recurrence. The Cultural Minister visited the spot and revealed that in Delhi there were 34 museums under his ministry and assured to conduct safety audit to ensure that no such painful incident occured if manmade. Seeing what happened in Tamil Nadu after the Tsunami, our step should also target natural calamities. We cannot stop earthquake, flood, torrential rains etc but we can definitely apply preventive measure to minimize the loss.