India, June 24 -- LUCKNOW Nearly four years after the devastating fire at Hotel Levana Suites in Lucknow prompted the UP government to order sweeping reforms in electrical safety oversight, another major fire in the Aliganj area has exposed how many of those directives remained largely unimplemented.

The state has now launched a massive audit of commercial electricity connections above 50 kW, covering nearly seven lakh establishments in the first phase. While the government describes the exercise as a preventive safety measure, consumer rights groups argue that it is effectively a belated attempt to enforce safety norms that were already mandated after the Levana tragedy.

According to official data, UP has 26.26 lakh commercial electric...