Sonepat fire
Residents recount cops' gallantry
Tribune Reporters and PTI

SONEPAT, Nov 8 — Residents of Sonepat recounted the gallantry of constable Ashok Kumar of Haryana Police, who sacrificed his life while saving the victims on one of the worst Divali tragedies of recent times in which at least 45 persons were killed in the Kutcha Quarter Market in Ashok Nagar locality here on Saturday evening.

Ashok Kumar was on patrol duty in the area when the fire broke out and he reportedly rescued three persons from being burnt. But he himself perished in the fire when he entered a shop to save another person.

Similarly Head Constable Surender Kumar, a resident of Rohat village, also saved two persons from being burnt but was himself injured. The state government has promoted Head Constable Surender Kumar in view of his gallantry. The names of both these cops have been recommended for President's Police Medal for gallantry services. The body of Ashok Kumar was cremated with full state honours yesterday.

Four other youth of the town who had saved a number of customers from being burnt would also be suitably rewarded and honoured by the administration.

The fire broke out in the Kutcha Quarter Market in Ashok Nagar locality here while the market was crowded with Divali shoppers. Most of the victims were choked to death as they shut themselves inside plastic, crockery and cassette shops. But according to eye-witnesses all the bodies were charred beyond recognition. Bodies could only be identified by personal belongings and other identification marks.

Eleven of the injured were admitted to the local hospitals while three suffering more than 40 per cent burns were referred to the PGMIS, Rohtak, and were admitted there.

The fire, which broke out at about 4.30 p.m. destroyed 17 shops (23 according to PTI) and the administration took immediate steps to contain the fire from spreading to other shops in the market. The Kutcha Quarter Market has about 200 shops and most of these shops were of ready-made garments and plastic goods. Although the total width of the market is about 40 feet yet only 3 feet passage was left in the market because of encroachments by the shopkeepers.

According to the district administration no shopkeeper in the market had been given a licence to sell crackers on Divali as it had earmarked three open places in the city to sell crackers. Yet some shopkeepers had set up shops on the roadside blocking the road.

The administration has not been able to ascertain the exact cause of the fire so far. However, it is being surmised that the fire broke out because of short circuit in a garment shop and spread quickly to other shops as most of them dealt in plastic goods.

Seeing the fire, the shopkeepers in the market started downing their shutters in order to escape it but soon these shops were also engulfed.

The worst affected was a four-storeyed shop owned by Gulshan Kumar. At least 32 bodies were recovered from this shop. The shop had crockery, plastic goods, PVC, packing material, polythene bags and insulation material. The owner of the shop had downed the shutters of his shop to escape the blaze. At least 32 customers who were inside the shop, were trapped and were choked to death. The bodies were charred badly.

The administration has estimated a loss of over Rs 1 crore in the fire.

Meanwhile, entire town was engulfed in gloom for two days and people were seen wailing as some had lost close relatives in the 13-hour devastating fire. Avinash had lost his two daughters Jyoti and Anu in the fire. Similarly Mahesh Bansal lost his wife Sulochna, 8 year-old son, Parkash, and a 10 year-old daughter, Chitra, Luxman of Jiwan Nagar lost his wife and daughter in the blaze.

The dead, included 17 women and 11 children.

It took 6 fire tenders about 12 hours to control the fire. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, the S.P., Mr K.P. Singh, and the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Yadav, reached the site of the fire immediately and supervised the rescue operations.

The SP, Mr K.P. Singh, was seen entering the burning shops a number of times to extricate the victims. Likewise Mr Ashok Yadav climbed the fourth storey of the Gulshan Crockery Store's to direct fire fighting operations from their and to extricate bodies.

The residents of the city as well as social organisations also put in their bit to save the trapped victims and to provide succour to the injured and the needy. The citizens arranged for sand bags and water for fire tenders.

The administration has ordered as magisterial inquiry into the tragedy and it will be conducted by the SDM Sonepat. The SDM has been asked to submit his report within 10 days.

The Chief Secretary of Haryana, Mr R.S. Verma, visited the fire site on Sunday. Others who visited the bereaved families and the fire site, included Mr Bhupender Singh Hooda, HPCC Chief; Mr Sahib Singh Verma, former Chief Minister of Delhi; Ms Krishna Gahlot, Social Welfare Minister, Haryana; Mr K.S. Sangwan, MP; Mr Chiranji Lal Sharma, former MP; Mr Suraj Mal, MLA and Mr Bajrang Lal Gupta of the BJP. All the leaders expressed their sympathies with the fire victims and their families.

Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, was deputed by the Chief Minister to attend the funerals of the victims. He also visited the injured in the hospital and the families of the deceased to convey the condolences on behalf of the Haryana Government.

According to official sources, the dead included: Renu, Avinash, Saneh Lata, Payal, Sandeep, Kiran, Jyoti, Anu, Vibha, Pinki, Neeraj, Sumit, Sulochna, Parkash, Chitra, Manoj, Ashok Kumar, Savita Bansal, Naveen, Geeta, Manoj, Kavita, Kiran, Himanshu, Ram Chander, Jasbir, Jagjit Kaur, Sushma, Rajender Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Janak Dulari, Pankaj Chhabra, Mohan Lal, Manu Sharma, Radha Rani, Ram Janam, Sanjay Madan, Jatin, Sunita, Deepa, Beena Kohli and Vijay Pal.

Haryana Governor Mahabir Prasad and state Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala expressed grief over the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed.

This is the second major fire incident in the state after the December 1995 blaze at Dabwali in Sirsa district which claimed over 200 lives during a school function held in a "shamiana".

Meanwhile, Divali was celebrated with usual fervour in the town yesterday. The bazaars, which were closed earlier in the day, re-opened in the afternoon and business carried on as usual.

ROHTAK: Former Minister Krishan Murti Hooda has urged the Chief Minister to order a judicial inquiry into the fire incident at Sonepat which had claimed 44 lives on the eve of Divali.

He said action should be taken against the official who granted permission to sell crackers in a congested bazaar. He also pleaded for enhancing the compensation amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for each victim.

He said the family of Constable Ashok Kumar, who displayed exemplary courage and laid down his life while saving others, should be paid a minimum compensation of Rs 5 lakh. The government should also recommend his name for the President's Award for this act of bravery, he added.

Meanwhile, the government has ordered free treatment for those who were injured in the devastating fire on Saturday night.

Social Welfare Minister Krishna Gehlaut and Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, visited the PGIMS yesterday to enquire about the health of the three injured admitted here.

According to Dr S.B. Siwach, Director, PGIMS, the condition of one of the injured, who was admitted with 80 per cent burns was serious. The other two were out of danger, he said.

The state unit of the CPM has expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives in the fire. It said the government, the administration and social organisations should initiate effective measures against the bursting of crackers.