Published On : Wed, May 27th, 2015

Ajinkya Plaza back to square one

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One year has lapsed since the fire incident took place
Investigations turn cold

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Nagpur: Nearly one year ago, five members of Siriya family who were residents of Ajinkya Palace in Gokulpeth area were charred to death in the fire when they were trapped in the lift and could not escape. This May 24, 2015, completes one year since the fire incident took place. Many other residents have not yet been able to emerge out of the bad memories of the incident that took place a year ago. Many flat owners have since moved out of their flats and have shifted to other flats.

After the accident, the building has been white-washed but the ground floor accommodation of Kalbande still bears the evidence of the fire incident and helps one recall the day of the fire. If this is not enough, the vehicles which were charred to a mangled mass too are lying in the same place where it was on the day of the fire.

It could be recalled that explosion in one of the two-wheelers caused a major fire to spread in Ajinkya Palace in Gokulpeth area. When they were intimated of a fire, the five members of the Siriya family got into the lift to get down and were trapped in the lift, while the thick wooden door caught fire and in-turn charred the five to death. The five deceased included Salila Prakash Siriya aged 65 years, Ragini Nishant Siriya aged 32 years, Niransh Nishant Siriya aged 3 years, Shruti Shrikant Mali aged 34 years and Shaina Shrikant Mali aged 2 years. The only member of the family who escaped death is Nishant Siriya. One can still feel goose-pimples when one recalls the fateful day.

The irony is that still no steps have been taken to avoid the recurring of a similar incident. The state continues to be the same in which the building existed before the fire incident. The danger looms large even today on the residents of Ajinkya Palace. The lone survivor of the fire accident comes once in while this side to have a look at the building.

Of the twelve flat owners, presently only five continue to reside in the building. The residents have failed to get a Chowkidar (Security Guard) to guard the building. This in turn has increased the incidents of theft in the building.

One of the former residents of the building identified as Joshi has started living on rent in some other place. They want to sell their flat, but unfortunately they are not getting any buyers. No one knows the actual cause of the blazing inferno. The investigations carried out by Fire and the Police departments to ascertain the cause of the fire has since gone cold.

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The killer lift still exists

The killer lift which took the lives of five people still exists. A cover up operation has been done by nailing a plywood board on the gate of the lift. The present residents do not have sufficient finances to repair the lift. This has caused inconvenience to many aged residents who have to use the staircase. The former Guardian Minister had assured to get the lift repaired, however the financial aid is yet to arrive.