Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 9 hrs ago
Electrical faults are driving deadly fires in Indian homes and hospitals
Deadly fires in Indian homes and hospitals are often linked to electrical faults.
Recent examples include fires in Delhi, Jhansi and Cuttack, where patients and newborns died.
India’s rising use of air-conditioners is adding pressure to electrical systems, and older buildings may have wiring that cannot handle their heavy current.
A fire usually needs both an electrical fault and a protection device that fails to trip in time.
Faults can include overloaded circuits, damaged wiring and loose connections that slowly heat up inside walls or panels.
Short circuits and faulty wiring account for a large share of fires recorded by fire services in Delhi and Mumbai.
Investigations can be limited by a shortage of certified fire experts, and the account says root causes and wider remedies are often not established.
Electrical faults are a major cause of fires in Indian homes and hospitals, according to fire services cited by The Hindu.
Recent fires in Delhi, Jhansi, Amravati, Chhindwara and Cuttack killed residents, patients and newborns.
Delhi Fire Service attributes more than 80% of fires in the capital to electrical faults, while Mumbai Fire Brigade attributes nearly three in four incidents to them.
The article links rising electricity and air-conditioner use to pressure on wiring in older buildings.
It says investigations are hampered by a shortage of certified fire forensic investigators.
- Who
- Residents, patients and newborns have died in fires linked to electrical faults. Fire services and investigators are examining the causes.
- What
- Electrical faults are driving deadly fires in Indian homes and hospitals.
- When
- The article describes incidents from November 2024 to 2026, and cites fire statistics for 2022.
- Where
- India, including Delhi, Jhansi, Amravati, Chhindwara and Cuttack.
- Why
- Faulty wiring, short circuits, overloaded circuits and other electrical failures can ignite fires; older buildings may be unable to withstand the current drawn by air-conditioners.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A fire in an overcrowded NICU in Jhansi killed ten newborns.
A short circuit in an air-conditioner ignited an oxygen-rich trauma-ICU ward at Cuttack’s SCB Medical College, killing ten patients.
A fire ripped through a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar, East Delhi, killing nine.
Fires in Amravati and Chhindwara killed newborns; three died from smoke inhalation in Amravati.
- Jhansi NICU
- 10 newborns died in November 2024; the unit designed for 18 babies held 55.
- Delhi fire
- 9 people died in a four-storey Vivek Vihar building on May 3, 2026.
- Cuttack hospital
- 10 patients died in a March 2026 fire at SCB Medical College.
- Delhi Fire Service
- Attributes over 80% of fires in the capital to electrical faults.
- Mumbai Fire Brigade
- Attributed nearly three in four of 26,855 incidents over five years to electrical faults.
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over 80% of the capital’s fires to electrical faults