‘I might not survive today. Can I see you one last time?
The Hindu
Survivors recount Friday night horror; families search for missing persons
As rescue operations continued at the Mundka building on Saturday, many survivors of Friday’s fire tragedy battled for their lives at the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri.
While some thanked their stars for exiting the building safely, several others seemed to be in a state of shock and despair, having witnessed traumatic scenes inside the burning building.
“I might not survive today. Can I see you one last time?” cried a desperate Pushpa Pawar, 37, while talking to her husband over the phone as she gasped for breath trapped on the second floor.
Ms. Pawar, who climbed on a crane and landed safely, told The Hindu her only wish in those moments was to meet her family members at least once.
Talking about her escape, she said she and many other women kept searching for an exit out of the building but found none. “When we tried climbing up the stairs, the doors were locked [on the fourth floor]. Some of the women jumped out of the windows [on the third floor], some climbed down the ropes while a few others reached for the cranes,” she said, adding the cranes could only help bring down people of a certain weight due to technical costraints.
A majority of those killed in the fire – 21 of 27 – were women workers.
The fire started around 3.30 p.m. on Friday from the first floor of the building, said an eyewitness. The fire personnel were able to control the situation within six hours, said Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”