It must have been around 2:30-3 in the night. I was sleeping with my daughters. Suddenly when I opened my eyes there was a very bright light in the room. The room was dark when we slept. I got nervous. When the curtain was removed, bright flames were rising outside the window. This fire spread through the window
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As soon as I opened the door of the flat to run out, only a cloud of smoke was visible. When he ran towards the roof, he saw that fire and smoke were coming out from the shaft of the apartment. When I looked down from the roof, I saw that the entire building was engulfed in flames. People were shouting for help. At that time I felt that I have to save my daughters at any cost. We were asking for help from the people standing in the building opposite.
This time in Blackboard, the story is about people who live in houses built in the narrow streets of Delhi, where ambulance and fire brigade are not able to reach them, due to which many people have died…
Soni Choudhary, who lives in Vaishnavi Apartment in Raj Nagar Part-2, Palam Colony, South West Delhi, says – Last year there was a massive fire in the building. Everything burnt to ashes right before my eyes. Now we are able to make some sounds from our mouth. Otherwise we had become living corpses. There are 16 flats in this four-storey building. There is hardly any stuff left in anyone’s house.
The fire that broke out at midnight in flat 16 of Vaishnavi Apartment could be controlled after 8-10 hours.
Recalling that scene, Soni says that we were not even able to breathe. Soon the fire started increasing. We were afraid that there were 32 cylinders in these 16 flats. What will happen if the cylinder starts bursting?
When we reached the terrace, we saw some people in the building opposite. I told him to take my children on his side at any cost. By placing a broken folding cot between the two roofs, we sent both the daughters to the opposite roof. There was also a fear that if the children fell down from the broken cot, they would not survive. The daughters somehow reached the front terrace. The cot was not strong enough to bear the weight of me and my husband. I felt like I was seeing my daughters for the last time.
I started shouting loudly whether we stay or not, you take care of yourself and both of you live together. Don’t depend on anyone. To be a good person… Saying this makes Seema cry. Controlling herself, she then says that in those few minutes, she wanted to teach her daughters all the lessons from her experience. I started telling him about my property and all the necessary documents.
Soni says that our house was completely burnt to ashes. Got the house repaired again by taking a loan.
As soon as I said this, both the daughters started crying. A brother from the opposite building broke the gate of his bathroom and stuck it between the two roofs. By climbing on it we saved our lives.
Four hours passed after the fire, and somehow a fire brigade vehicle reached us. Even that could not extinguish the fire. The remaining vehicles of the fire brigade remained stuck on the road. People park their cars in front of their houses at night. Because of this the fire brigade did not find space to come inside.
Soni says that almost all the contents of the flat were burnt to ashes.
The next day when the fire subsided we came to our flat. Every one of our belongings was burnt to ashes. I bought this house a year ago for Rs 30 lakh by adding every penny. Decorated it with my own hands. Within a few hours we were ruined. Clothes, furniture, children’s books, cash kept at home, everything was burnt. We were left with only the clothes we were wearing and the bricks of the house.
Till date we have not been able to buy all the children’s books. We rebuilt this house in nine-ten months due to which today we are in debt of Rs 10 lakh. I went into depression. Due to hypertension, there was problem of BP and sugar. My health deteriorated so much that I had to close my parlor. We had suddenly come from home to the road.
Ashok, who lives on the third floor of the same building, says that when the incident happened, we were sleeping deeply. My wife was called by the neighbor saying, Bhabhi, please save me, there was a fire. When we opened the gate, we saw that the fire had reached outside our house. After closing the gate we ran towards the balcony. There we saw that people from our building were climbing the bamboo stairs to go to the building opposite.
Ashok says that we also reached the building opposite with great difficulty. By the time the fire brigade arrived our house was burnt. This house was taken on loan with great difficulty. After the house burnt down, we requested the banks to stop the EMI for some time. The bank refused.
Ashok tells that everything was burnt so he shifted to a rented house. It was such a difficult time, we had to pay EMI and also house rent. Along with this, the school fees of the children and the expenses of getting the house repaired again are separate. Because of this I went into debt.
People’s cars parked in the basement of the apartment were almost completely destroyed.
Similar story and almost the same condition of other families living in Vaishnavi Apartment. Both the legs of Shivani Kiran’s husband, who lives on the first floor, got damaged in this accident.
Kiran says that not only our house got burnt, both her husband’s legs also got damaged.
Kiran says that my husband jumped down from the first floor to save me and my little girl. He thought that he would reach down and save both of us. As soon as he jumped down, both his legs were broken. Not only did our house burn down, my husband also got rods inserted in both his legs. He cannot even walk properly.
Himanshu, who lived on the third floor, also saved his life with great difficulty. Recalling that day, he says – A family was trapped so badly in our building that they had lost hope of survival. All four members of the family drank Ganga water and lay down on the bed covered with blankets. Started chanting the name of God.
Himanshu tells that a family got so scared in that accident that they have not returned till date, they now live in a rented house.
Somehow his relative saved his life. The family remained admitted to Safdarjung Hospital for ten days. Everyone returned to this building, but the family has not returned till date.
Neha Singh, who lives on the first floor, says while crying that that night all that was going on in my mind was to save my 5 year old child by any means possible. We felt as if we would suffocate to death from the smoke before the fire. When it was one year since this incident happened on 7th December, we were so nervous that we could not sleep the whole night. Thank God that no one died in this accident.
Neha Singh says that during that accident we saw our death very closely.
In case of emergency in this area, even the ambulance does not reach on time.
SD Sharma, who lives in Palam Colony, says that my uncle had cancer. One day his health suddenly deteriorated. We called the ambulance. Half an hour passed. The ambulance remained stuck in the traffic of Old Mehrauli. Along with my brothers, I lifted uncle along with the sheet. To encourage uncle, we kept saying that it would take just a few more minutes to reach the hospital, but we ourselves did not know when we would reach the hospital.
After walking for some time we got an auto. At first even the auto driver refused saying that there was a traffic jam. As soon as his eyes fell on uncle, he signaled us to sit in the auto. Chanting God’s name, we somehow reached the ambulance, which was stuck on Old Mehrauli Road.
After a lot of effort, with the help of people, the ambulance driver was able to take a U turn. We lost about an hour in this entire exercise. After all the ambulance could not reach on time and today uncle is not with us.
A little hesitantly, SD Sharma says that my mother and father are about 90 years old and both remain ill. My father’s condition is not good, he cannot even turn on his own. He did not talk for the last few days and even stopped eating and drinking. My mother has BP problem.
This situation of both of them scares me that what happened to uncle might happen again. I leave all my work and stay at home so that I can do something in case of emergency. I know that ambulance cannot reach our house, so we have to reach the ambulance at the right time.
SD Sharma says that the roads here are narrow, but the bigger problem is encroachment. Road traffic jams are common here because people have extended their shops and houses further. On top of that, street vendors stand on the road. This road is not suitable for big vehicles like ambulances. If there is no encroachment on this road then people will not have to struggle for basic facilities.
Gautam, a resident of Palam Colony, says that he has been living here for the last 60 years. He has been a witness to major fire accidents twice. He says that in both the fire accidents, it was difficult for the fire brigade to reach because the lanes are small for big vehicles. Small vehicles cannot control such big accidents.
There are no proper major entry points into Palam Colony. So that big vehicles can go inside. After incidents happening daily, RWAs and local people of Palam Raj Nagar Part 2 also took out Adhikar Yatra against it. When there was no hearing from the Municipal Corporation, the legal team of RWA approached the Delhi High Court. The court also ordered removal of encroachment.
Advocate Pradeep Navani says that if there is a water shortage here, even water tankers cannot reach homes.
Advocate Pradeep Navani, General Secretary of RWA, says that if the situation does not improve even after the court order, strict action will be taken. There are houses in this colony, situated just 6 kilometers away from the country’s busiest Indira Gandhi Airport, but the road to reach them is very narrow. Ambulances cannot reach homes, even fire brigade vehicles cannot reach in case of fire.
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Also read these news of Blackboard series…
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I was taking bath on the terrace, at the same time my sister-in-law called her family members. His brother grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the bathroom. There were no clothes on my body, yet the men of sister-in-law’s house did not feel ashamed. Those people were beating me badly. Read the full news…
2. Blackboard- Daughters are being sold on lease like property: Parents are making deals by taking money to repay the loan.
I gave my elder daughter Bindiya to Sunny for one year in exchange of one lakh rupees. He sold my 10 year old daughter to God knows who. He told me that he would introduce me to Bindiya from time to time. Will teach him. Leave alone introducing us, he never made us talk even on phone. Read the full news…
3.Blackboard- I am a man, forced to live as a eunuch: 15 lakh loan, the bank took away the car; Why are men roaming around disguised as eunuchs?
‘Some speak sweetly, some a sixpence or a eunuch. They also touch while coming and going. I felt bad in the beginning. I used to be able to control myself with great difficulty, but now gradually it has become a habit to listen and tolerate all this. So to say, I am a man in my house, I have a wife and children too. Read the full news…