India, Dec. 9 -- The nightclub in North Goa, where a fire on Saturday night killed 25 people, did not have a fire safety clearance, had been served a demolition notice by the local panchayat for constructing the premises without a licence, lacked emergency exits (most of the deaths happened due to suffocation), and was holding fire shows in a building with highly combustible interiors. Rewind to similar tragedies in the past, and the resemblance to the tragedy at Birch by Romeo Lane in Goa will be shocking. This was the case in Rajkot, where a fire at a gaming venue last year killed 33 people. The high toll in the 1997 Delhi Uphaar Cinema tragedy (89 deaths) was because there were not enough exits in the cinema hall. As always, the executive is quick to react in the aftermath of the incident, revealing that the bureaucracy was aware of the violations, issuing arrest warrants and lookout notices, and suspending functionaries in the lowest rung of the administration. It is business as usual thereafter, until the next tragedy. The cost of such criminal negligence is massive. Lives are lost, families are devastated, and in the case of states such as Goa, a tourist spot, the economic fallout will be big: Assurance of safety - on the street, and in spaces, including hotels and restaurants - is necessary for tourism to flourish. It is welcome that many state governments have ordered fire safety inspections post the Goa incident. But such steps can't be just a one-off action, a reaction to a fire tragedy somewhere. Public safety has to be a part of civic culture, and administrations have to be diligent and vigilant in enforcing the laws and norms - be it in restaurants, malls, hotels, hospitals, theatres, public buildings and utilities, or during festivals - so that safety assessments become a part of everyone's routine. Compromising on public safety is akin to playing with fire. Someone will get singed....