New Delhi, June 5 -- Hours after the fire at a Hauz Rani bed-and-breakfast claimed 21 lives on Wednesday, chief minister Rekha Gupta announced a magisterial inquiry and promised accountability. For families affected by major disasters in Delhi, however, such announcements have become a familiar ritual - one that often leads to reports that are never publicly released, recommendations that remain unknown and accountability that remains elusive.

Wednesday's tragedy bore striking parallels to a similar hotel fire in 2019. On February 12, a blaze at Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh killed 17 people amid allegations of unauthorised construction. Then CM Arvind Kejriwal visited the spot and sought a magisterial inquiry report the same day. But...