What led to higher toll in Meerut fire
by Sudhakar

      Meerut: The toll in Monday's fire at the Brand India Consumer Fair in Meerut's Victoria Park has gone up to 50, with about hundred others battling serious burn injuries. Astonishingly, the reason for the increased toll which is likely to go further up, was, according to witnesses, an announcement that took place in the pandals asking visitors not to panic and be in place where they were. The announcement misled the visitors who did not move in the absence of options. But the fire spread within minutes and burning plastic and synthetic sheets started falling down on people inside. The fire spread so fast that it reduced three of the four pandals nto ashes in just half an hour. Sources said that all the pandals were centrally air-conditioned and the power overload might have been the cause behind the short-circuit. Besides, the pandals were closed from all sides and there were not enough exits. The tent in which the fair was being held had a common entry and exit point, making it difficult to escape when the fire spread.

     "The pandals were centrally air-conditioned. The sheds also had polythene sheets. The entry and exit points were the same which aggravated the situation," said R M Srivastava, Special Secretary Home, Uttar Pradesh. Surinder, a local whose wife was injured in the mishap, said that there was only one exit point, which led to a higher number of casualty. "The pandals burnt within 8-10 minutes after I came out of it. Had there been any such arrangement then they could have doused the fire. We don't know whose fault it is," Surinder said. "The fire started because of a short circuit from above and then the smoke started spreading. People started running out, but there wasn't enough space to exit," another eyewitness said. The situation worsened when gas cylinders inside the pandals burst. Meanwhile, an FIR has been lodged against the fair organiser, Mrinal event organisers, for violating safety norms. The State Government has announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the family of the deceased, Rs 50,000 to seriously injured and Rs 25 thousand to those with minor injuries. The State Government has also ordered a high-level probe in to the matter. The injured have been admitted to different hospitals in Meerut and in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS. The injured are also receiving free treatment.

Mulayam booed on arrival at fire site (Go To Top)
by Sudhakar/Ashok Sah

      Meerut: Anti-Uttar Pradesh Government slogans welcomed Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday when he visited the site of Monday's fire in Meerut to review the situation in the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed over 50 lives.An angry mob hooted to convey their ire over the incident. The Samajwadi Party MLA of the area, S P Agrawal, was beaten up by the mob present there, mainly comprising of Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party workers, besides locals. The protestors did not allow the leaders to visit the fire site and kept shouting anti-government slogans whenever any State Government leader came to visit the spot. Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi also visited the site though she was not able to go to Ground Zero, which has been cordoned off. Only mediapersons are being allowed to venture to the spot. Sonia also visited the surviving victims of the fire, who have been admitted in different hospitals for treatment, and said that a better compensation package would be announced.

Relatives' distress over missing victims (Go To Top)

      Meerut: Distraught relatives are pleading with authorities in Meerut to help find their loved ones who went missing in Monday's blaze at a consumer fair. So far, 51 pople have been confirmed dead and there is no official list on the number of missing people. According to locals, at least 25 people have simply vanished as their relatives have failed to locate them at any of the town's hospitals, mortuaries or graveyards. The relatives, many of them are teenaged children who have already lost one parent, have been on the streets all through the night and Tuesday morning but to no avail.

     One harried Jain said for the past 15 hours he has not been able to find a single administrative officer or policeman who could give him proper help, as 80 percent of them are busy tending to visiting politicians and VIPs. A teenaged boy who had been tagging along with Jain looking for his mother said he was shocked at seeing bodies being removed from the site using bulldozers. The incident has sparked outrage in the town and hundreds clashed with police and shouted slogans against politicians on Tuesday morning. "My father-in-law has been missing since the incident. I have been looking for him all through the night. I have been asked to run here and there...people keep saying all the officials and policemen are busy in the security of the ministers and other visiting politicians. The missing are still missing, they are neither amid the dead or in the official list of missing," Pramod Jain, said. "My mother is missing since last night. There is no help from the administration and they are instead using bulldozers to pick up bodies," a teenaged boy whose mother is missing, added.

     About 2,000 people had packed the electronics goods fair in Meerut, some 80 km (50 miles) from New Delhi, where air- conditioners, television sets and other home appliances were on display in about 100 stalls. Police said an electrical short-circuit started fire at a tented enclosure covered by polythene sheets. Hundreds of people rushed along a corridor towards a single exit in the long structure as the blaze engulfed two neighbouring tents.

    Consumer fairs are increasingly popular in India's smaller cities and towns as fast economic growth has sharply increased disposable income over the last decade. But safety procedures are still ignored in many aspects of public life. Ninety children died in a fire at a school in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in July 2004.

Searching for fire victims in Delhi hospital (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Heart-rending wails could be heard across Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Tuesday after relatives were told of a man's death from injuries suffered in Monday's deadly fire at a consumer goods fair in Meerut. Though the man was brought to New Delhi late on Monday, he succumbed to his injuries early on Tuesday. The family is now waiting for his body to be delivered to them, even as several more burnt victims continue to be shifted to the super-specialty wing of the state-run hospital. "There are at least 25 patients admitted here from Meerut. But there is only one doctor in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) besides a few nurses. There is nobody to see them. It's as if just the computers are working," said Satish Jain, a relative of an injured. Anxious relatives have thronged hospitals to look for loved ones, many angry at the lack of facilities in the medical centres.

Candle light march over Meerut fire (Go To Top)
by Sudhakar

      Meerut: Meerut residents today took out a candle light march around the Circuit House roundabout to protest against the administration's failure in tackling yesterday's huge fire that claimed the lives of 54 people besides injuring several others. City residents expressed concern that adequate safety measures were not followed, which resulted in the fire getting out of control and completely gutting stalls in the fair complex. They also slammed politicians for playing dirty politics with a human tragedy. "The people of Meerut will always consider this incident as a lesson where politicians tried to derive political mileage out of a tragedy," said Dr Tyagi, a city resident. Residents are also peeved that the administration played up wrong number of the missing and casualty figures. They said a lot of people were still missing. Coincidentally, the missing figures jumped from a mere nine to 33 in the last one or two hours. Meanwhile, traders' groups have started a help-line and have furnished a list of 24 missing, which they claim is different from the government figures. Officials said that as of now a total of 25,75,000 rupees has been distributed as compensation.

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