Ordered to be demolished yet standing tall; as many as 15 people succumbed to the massive fire that broke out at in the building housing the coaching centre in Lucknow’s Aliganj area on Monday. Several were reportedly trapped while few students were seen jumping from the windows to escape the blaze. Emergency services took almost an hour to doze off the fire. 22 were rushed to the King George’s Medical University Trauma Centre, out of which 15 were declared dead on arrival while the others are undergoing treatment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister declared Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50,000, respectively.
An FIR has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services Act. Police have arrested four building owners, namely, Ram Krishna Upadhyay, Virendra Prasad Shukla, Tushar Krishna Jaiswal and Suresh Kumar Sahu. Additionally, the UP Government has suspended four officials from the development, fire and electricity departments over alleged negligence.
According to official records, the property, identified as building number MS/102/D in Sector D of the Aliganj Scheme located in a busy commercial area was originally allotted to Vijay Kumar through a lottery on July 11, 1980, under a hire-purchase arrangement. Following the execution of the agreement on Nov 4, 1980, possession of the property was handed over to the allottee. A demolition order was issued on May 10, 2016, but it was revoked on July 5 of the same year, reason for which is unknown.
Over the years the property was converted into a registered land with the ownership transfer to Vijay Kumar and his wife through a sale deed in 2005. Subsequently, on Jan 19, 2013, the couple sold the property to Virendra Pratap Shukla and Surendra Pratap Shukla. The Lucknow Development Authority(LDA) completed the mutation process in favor of the new owners on Aug 7, 2014.
Preliminary probe revealed the 1992 sq,feet building’s map was an residential layout approved in 2014, under the self approval building plan scheme. The structure later attracted legalities after the LDA in 2016 registered a case against Virendra Pratap Shukla over the alleged unauthorized construction. Following a detailed investigation a demolition order was passed on May 10,2016, directing action against the unauthorized portions of the building.
What is now a matter of concern is- if an order was issued why wasn’t it executed? An official in the know stated that on July 5, 2016, less than two months after it was issued, the order was revoked. Instead the building approved as a residential property was later developed into a commercial property. The circumstances of which is now attracting attention in the wake of the fire tragedy.