Uphaar fire tragedy: 28 years on, families still miss loved ones, demand accountability

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) The Uphaar cinema fire tragedy victims' kin gathered at Smriti Upavan in Green Park on Friday to mark 28 years of the horrific incident that claimed 59 lives and injured more than 100.

The memorial, organised by the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), saw grieving families, friends, and supporters streaming to the south Delhi area to remember their loved ones.

There were prayers, moments of silence, emotional recollections, and a renewed appeal for justice and accountability, AVUT, in a statement, said.

"It has been 28 years, and we are still waiting for answers, for closure, for justice that feels complete," said Neelam Krishnamoorthy, president of AVUT, who lost her two teenage children in the fire.

"Every year we come here not just to mourn, but to remind the system that such a tragedy must never happen again," she said.

In 1997, a fire broke out during a screening of the film Border at the Uphaar cinema hall. Locked exits and a delayed rescue led to dozens of people getting trapped inside, many of them young.

AVUT has since fought a legal battle to hold those responsible to account.

The fight revealed major gaps in the cinema halls' safety apparatus, such as the lack of emergency preparedness and a trauma centre in Delhi.

The setting up of Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, which has been functioning for 18 years, is a result of that legal battle.

The Supreme Court in 2015 imposed a Rs 60 crore fine on the Ansal brothers, the owners of the theatre, instead of a jail term. The amount was meant to fund another trauma centre, an extension of AIIMS in Dwarka, but that project is still pending, according to the statement.

"It is heartbreaking to see something so critical stuck in limbo. Lives depend on it," Krishnamoorthy said.

As they lit candles and laid flowers, families said they would keep returning to this place until the system changes, and until public safety becomes more than just a promise. PTI SHB VN VN