If the deaths in the December 19 blaze had prompted BMC to launch a crackdown a week ago, those who perished at Kamala Mills may well have been alive today

If you have lived in Bombay long enough, you know the drill by now: first comes a massive, completely preventable tragedy caused by greed, corruption and government apathy. If a few people die, the people supposedly in charge initiate an inquiry. No one knows what happens to the thousands of inquiries initiated every year, because it doesn't seem as if the people meant to read them ever do, but the probes are initiated, nonetheless. If a large number of people die, there's a ruckus. Political parties talk about corruption, some officers are suspended and a couple of them are transferred. Then, when things quiet down, the inquiries are shelved, the people suspended start private companies and the ones transferred probably come back, for all we know. Because, obviously, we never know, do we?