Monday (May 4) was spent with great sadness and anger in Vivek Vihar area of Delhi. A massive fire that broke out in a 4-storey building in the early hours of Sunday took the lives of 9 people. After the accident, the survivors and the relatives of the deceased are continuously raising questions on the emergency arrangements. He says that if help had been provided on time, many lives could have been saved.
Local people claim that the people trapped inside were alive long after the fire and were continuously pleading for help. But due to delay and shortcomings in relief and rescue operations, they could not be evacuated. The fire spread so fast in this 4-storey building that within no time the upper floors were completely engulfed.
Allegations of delay and negligence on fire brigade
Kamal Goyal, who lives on the upper ground floor behind the building, said that the fire started from the upper floor of his house. “The fire brigade arrived at least 20 minutes after the call and even after arriving, it took them around 30 minutes to set up their equipment. The water pressure was very low and the pipes were leaking,” he alleged. He says that in less than an hour the fire spread upstairs and the situation became out of control.
The pain of Sonali Jain, who lost 5 members of her family in this accident, is very deep. He told, “Aanchal’s last call to her father came at around 4.30 in the morning. This means that he was alive till 4.30.”
The deceased include his relatives Arvind Jain (60), Anita Jain (58), Nishant Jain (35), his wife Aanchal Jain (33) and their younger child Akay.
‘Last conversation on phone, then it’s all over’
Recalling the conversation he had with Nishant Jain during the fire, Kamal Goyal said, “He kept asking whether the fire brigade had arrived. I told him that they had arrived, but he said that the fire had spread too much. I asked him to go towards the back grill for ventilation, but they could not reach there. After that, his phone stopped working.”
Local people allege that there were no necessary equipment at the spot. Especially due to lack of metal cutter and power cut, the work could not be done in the initial period.
Sonali Jain said, “There were no digital locks in my house. The doors were wooden, but due to the heat they got jammed. The cutters did not come on time, the door could not be broken.”
only one way to make trouble
The structure of the building also turned out to be a major reason for this accident. This building, built in 330 square yards, had a total of 8 flats, 4 at the front and 4 at the back. But the biggest problem was that there was only one way in and out.
After the fire spread, this road was closed and people got trapped. 60-year-old Sudhir Kumar Mittal, who lives on the top of the building, said that his family was stuck on the balcony for a long time.
He said, “We 5 people, me, my wife, my grandson, daughter and daughter-in-law, were waiting in the balcony for about an hour. Later a crane came but I could not climb on it due to my condition. Later the trolley came again and my family was rescued.” He told that the fire was so terrible that even seven ACs in his house melted.
Fire department denied the allegations
On the other hand, Delhi Fire Service has rejected all the allegations. Fire officer Mukesh Verma said, “No such problem came to our notice. We had sent trains from several stations like Shahdara, Tahirpur, Gokulpuri and Laxmi Nagar and they arrived one by one depending on the distance. The first train reached within 5 to 6 minutes.” He also said that there was no shortage of water and all the equipment was working properly.
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Deaths due to smoke suffocation
According to Verma, the intensity of the fire was so high that it was difficult to go inside immediately. He told that many people died not due to fire but due to suffocation due to smoke. He said that a total of 14 vehicles were sent to the spot and about 15 people were evacuated safely.