Nearly three decades after the tragic Uphaar cinema fire snatched 59 lives and scarred over 100 others, families of the victims are still waiting, not just for closure, but for a promise to be kept of building a trauma centre.
In 2015, the Supreme Court ordered that Rs 60 crore paid as a penalty by convicted cinema owners Gopal and Sushil Ansal be used to build a trauma centre in memory of the victims. It was to be located in Dwarka and completed within two years. The plan called for a five-acre facility equipped with a burns unit and emergency services. Today, nearly a decade later, not a single foundation stone has been laid. The funds, which with interest now exceed Rs 100 crore, lie unused.
The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) has filed several RTI pleas, but none have yielded any results beyond bureaucratic deflections. Departments say the matter doesn’t pertain to them. No land has been allocated, and no progress has been reported so far.
AVUT again approached the Supreme Court seeking an appropriate response from the Centre and state. On April 22, the Supreme Court issued a fresh notice to the Delhi government seeking a response. The next hearing is scheduled for July 16.
The top court’s judgment of September 2015 held the Ansal brothers, Gopal Ansal and Sushil Ansal, guilty of causing death due to negligence in the tragedy that took place on June 13, 1997. A three-judge bench sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment with a rider that in lieu of the one-year sentence they had to further undergo, the same shall be substituted with a fine of Rs 60 crore to be equally apportioned between the two brothers.
Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy, which occurred on June 13, 1997, in Green Park, Delhi, during a screening of Border, claimed 59 lives and injured over 100 due to asphyxiation and a subsequent stampede. Sparked by a poorly maintained 1000 KVA transformer in the cinema’s basement, owned by the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB), the fire exposed egregious safety violations: blocked exits, non-functional fire extinguishers, no emergency lighting, and inadequate ventilation. The tragedy was one of India’s deadliest fire disasters.
The centre, though delayed by judicial reductions and bureaucratic challenges, stands as a beacon of hope for improved public safety in India.
