2006 Meerut fire accident: ‘If my mother is not dead, why can’t they find her?’
Malti Tayal is dead. She died long ago, on April 10, 2006, when a sudden, furious fire engulfed three large canopies hosting an electronics fair at Victoria Park, Meerut. The tragedy left 65 people, including Malti, dead in a matter of minutes. But hers was the only body never to be found. Nine years on, the official death toll of the fire continues to stand at 64, with Malti being the missing statistic, the unrecognised 65th victim.
“My mother died in the fire,” says Naresh Tayal over and over again in an hour-long conversation with The Sunday Express at his modest home in Manoranjan Park, Meerut.
1995 Dabwali fire accident: ‘I will never forget my children, the other victims’
Bansal has attended “every” court hearing for greater compensation for the fire victims. (Source: Express photo by Sumit Malhotra)
December 23, 1995 was supposed to be a special day for Vinod and Renu Bansal. Their children — two daughters, 9 and 7, and a five-year-old son — were all participating in dance performances at their school’s annual day function.
So, on the chilly winter morning, the five set off for Rajiv Marriage Palace, Dabwali, Haryana, the venue of the function. As the canopy was packed beyond capacity at 1,500 people, the DAV school management locked the main gates of the compound.
Himanshu, the Bansals’ son, was on stage performing, even as Renu and their younger daughter Nancy were cheering him from near the podium. The elder daughter was in the dressing room some distance away, getting ready for her performance. Suddenly, a fire broke out, and people were running helter-skelter with melted synthetic material of the tent falling on them. In a matter of seven minutes, the small school function turned into the biggest fire tragedy in the country — killing 442 people, including 258 children, and injuring over 150 others.
2011 Kolkata AMRI hospital fire: ‘We won’t let them get away’
It’s 1 pm on a Thursday and 42-year-old Paromita Guha Thakurta’s schedule has gone for a toss. “Our hearing at the high court today has been cancelled because of the death of a judge,” sighs Paromita, who works at an IT firm. Days like this have been a part of her life since the early morning of December 9, 2011, when a fire that started in the basement of AMRI Hospital led to the death of 92 patients, including her 63-year-old mother Mridula Guha thakurta, and three hospital staffers. Since then, Paromita has attended 22 court hearings against the 16 accused (including 11 board members of the hospital). “I often lose the courage to fight but then I look at the picture of my mother and gather strength,” she says.
1997 Delhi Uphaar cinema fire: ‘I should have shot the culprits’
The couple could not gather the courage to enter their children’s room on the day of the verdict. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
“Looking back, I think I made a mistake. I should have picked up a gun and shot the culprits, pleaded insanity in court and I might have been out by now. Maybe that would have been justice,” says Neelam Krishnamoorthy.
It’s a week since the Supreme Court decided the Ansals pay Rs 60 crore and need not serve more jail time for the Uphaar cinema fire. Around this time every year, Neelam and husband Shekhar dust old birthday cards and pictures of their children, who died in the blaze, and lay them around in the living room to mark their birthdays.
2004 Kumbakonam School fire: ‘Conviction too little, too late’
Families after court order. (Source: PTI)
July 16, 2004, was a regular day at school. About 760 children, belonging to three different schools running in the same decrepit building on Kasiraman Street in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, were, however, given an unusual instruction. The students were told to gather on the first floor of the building in order to convince visiting government inspectors that the school had a poor student-teacher ratio and needed more aid. Just as 200 students had gathered on the first floor, a fire lit in the kitchen spread to the thatched roof of the building, and soon engulfed it, killing 94 people, mostly children below the age of nine.
