India Has No National Building Safety Code—Why That Matters After Lucknow

A coaching centre fire in Lucknow killed 14–15 people on 22 June, mostly students who died from suffocation. India lacks a unified national building safety code; fire compliance falls to states and municipalities, fragmenting enforcement. Uttar Pradesh has announced crackdowns after past fires, but implementation gaps persist. The structural question: whether this tragedy generates durable regulatory reform or another short enforcement burst that fades.