Mundka Fire Tragedy: A Tale of Lousy Legal System and Trauma

Mundka: On January 14, 2023, while the country was immersed in the celebrations of Lodhi and Makar Sankranti, a building in Mundka was on blazing fire for a long time. The incident took place sometime between 4:30-4:45 pm. Soon after, the whole first floor of the three-storey building spread thick fumes and crowds gathered around the spot. Sometime later, the fire department came to the rescue and took charge.

NewsClick learned that this was not the first time the building was on fire. It was already in debris. This was the same building, where a few months back, on May 13, 2022, a massive fire broke taking the lives of 27 individuals and leaving over 50 injured. Earlier a factory, the place used to deal in CCTV cameras, monitors, and other electronic equipment. Soon after the incident, the families of the deceased learnt that the Delhi government offered them compensation of Rs10 lakh and the Central government Rs2 lakh each. Apart from this, the families were also entitled to other compensations under the Workmen Compensation Act and other Labour laws.

After several rounds at the tables of ‘sarkari babus’ (Government officials), the families of the deceased managed to get the compensation offered by the Delhi government. However, even for the ones who received the money from the Central government, it did not come easy, and the one supposed to be given by the employer still left the families rounding up in courts each month.

Court hearings have left families with raw wounds and depleting economic condition

Ram Singh Chauhan’s wife was an employee of the company. After her death, he is left with his four kids, two of them are over 18 years of age, one is 13 and the youngest daughter is seven years old. “Her death shattered my kids,” says Chauhan. Chauhan was home when NewsClick reached Mundka and had to leave the household chores to come to speak with the reporter. His hands were still dusted with the flour he used to make chapatis for his kids.

“In a month, I am bound to attend at least 3-4 Court hearings at labour court, Tis Hazari court and the Delhi High Court. The respondents’ lawyer troubled us a lot initially at the labour court. Mine was an arranged love marriage. Therefore, I still had the 30 years old marriage card that he asked me to show as proof of my marriage. When I showed that, he did not stop there. He went on to allege that my wife did not even work there and had gone to attend an event. Despite all his allegations turning out to be flawed, I have still not received compensation,” he added. Since Chauhan is somewhat well-read, he was able to produce all the proofs, however, such is not the case for the other families who are illiterate and have not been able to battle the complex burden of proof imposed on them.

Chauhan, almost two months back, lost his job since he had to take regular leaves in order to show his presence at the Courts. Almost all the loved ones of the deceased have been under a similar economic tussle. Vishwajeet, another middle-aged man who lost his wife used to stay in Alwar, Rajasthan where he worked as a fitter in the plumbing field. However, he lost his job soon after his wife’s death when his employer fired him for his regular absence, the time he used to attend the courts. “I have been trying to get a job for a long now, tried working here and there, but every place I go, I am fired in a few days considering my irregularity for which I am not to be blamed. Apart from me, there is no one who could attend these sessions and bring partly justice to my wife’s death,” he narrated.

Others claim to have lost over two lakh rupees out of the total 10 lakh they received only in the Court proceedings. “I had Rs 60,000 in my account when my wife died, no savings apart from that. All of that along with some loans I took from relatives went into my wife’s last rites. My daughter took away over Rs 1,00,000 and left the house. My son has not returned since last night. Apart from these problems, the lawyers’ expenses, the commuting fee and there are so much more. Without a job, I do not think I will be able to manage for long,” said Chauhan.

Late Nisha’s mother Mira Devi looks older than before and her condition is much more pitiable. Someone who does not just have to deal with the trauma of losing her only earning daughter, but a drunkard husband and five kids in a single-room house. Out of the five kids, one is differently abled and needs much more attention. And with this, come the Hearings of the Courts. “I am tired now. My husband keeps exhausting the compensation money, and every time I go to the Courts, I am reminded of how my daughter was the only one to take after everyone, and what situation her death has landed us all into. They ask for proof. From where do I get it?” questioned Mira. Not just this, but what followed was even more pitiable. “The whole hearing happens in English, and as soon as it's done, we are just given a date. The same has been happening for the last eight months, how much more?” grieved Mira in angst.

Nisha's mother with her youngest daughter who never leaves her sight. Nisha has been managing with compensation without any earning member of the family

The families look tired, the loved ones without hope and the common sentiment amongst all seemed frustrated with the hearings that not just triggered them about their loved ones’ agonising death, but also has a continuous impact on their pockets.

A never-ending run for compensation

As many as five families have still not received the compensation promised to them by the Central government. Soon after the Mundka incident made it to the regular news cycle and grabbed media attention, the Central Government promised a sum of Rs 2 lakh each to the victims’ families.

The process of discharging the money began and is still in the run. But what lies between the families and the compensation is the bureaucratic chain that ties their minds in legal knots. Deputy labour commissioner, A. K. Biruly, had earlier in the month of August 2022 told the Print that the applications were underway and the compensation commissioner has been given a month to clear the dues. However, the process remains due for five families.

Narender’s mother is one among these five. The woman continues to suffer the brunt of proofs that have now taken a sudden turn after a long wait of months. Initially, she narrates, she was being asked for the DNA certificate, Aadhar card, birth certificate, etc of her kid, which she provided bit by bit. “When I arranged everything, had it all in order, right before Diwali, they said that my IFSC code was incorrect and I would have to get a cancelled cheque. I have submitted that as well now and have been waiting for the amount ever since,” she said.

The families provided all that they asked for but were left with one question. Everyone whose sum is stuck is because of an incorrect IFSC code or a cancelled cheque. The compensation they received from the Delhi government asked for the same details. “They gave me those details and received the money. Even for the Central one, they submit the same details. How were the bank details incorrect for the Centre and correct for the State?” they ask.

Memory fresh, regular fires in the building a catalyst to the pain

50-year-old Sumitra could not stop crying as she told the reporter how her daughter Drishti was supposed to be married four months from the day she passed away. Her hands shivered as she held the mic and wiped off her tears with the other hand. The helpless lady when reached the spot where the building had seen a recent fire, she just could not help but cry in pain. “Since last May, this building has caught fire at least twice. And every time anyone talks of the fire, her cheerful face starts to strike me hard.”

Drishti's mother. She makes envelopes for a living.

Sumitra was reminded of the day the building caught fire. She narrated what followed that day. “My poor kid tried reaching out to us. She called me, I did not have my phone with me. She called her aunt who tried consoling her and asked her to seek immediate help. She tried getting off but did not find an escape.” Just the previous day she had told her mother that she would soon leave the job. Sumitra was happy with her decision and excited about her marriage. But fate had other plans.

“I do not remember the time right after May 2022, but this time on Sunday, the fire was exactly the same as when my sister died,” narrated Komal, a young college student who lost her elder sister in the incident. The eyewitness inform that the fire that took place this time, was when drug addicts went inside the burned-down factory to take some tar, and accidentally burned down leftover wires which led to a huge fire.

However, the families of the deceased feel there is something more to it. They say that they have been hearing news of the owner Manish Lakra’s bail and that he would be out soon. They believe that these stray fire incidents in a burned-down building were not mere happenings but well-planned ways to eradicate the leftover evidence from the building and to save the owner from any form of penalty and compensation. “Why else would we have to wait for so long for compensation despite submitting all proofs and the news of his bail just when a massive fire broke out in his building.”

NewsClick while at the spot also found that there was fresh plywood well placed in the building and cleaning done on the ground floor of the four-storey building. Locals narrate that this plywood was placed there after the incident that took place on January 14, 2023. Before that, there were barricades too which are now gone.

Sources also informed NewsClick that the owner Manish Lakra, while he has been in jail, has opened another such building in Bahadurgarh. However, the reporter could not verify the claims.

The police, suspect the role of drug addicts in the recent fire but are still doing a thorough investigation. Local sources narrate otherwise. They say that the police did catch three people who were involved and they were all in there consuming drugs as per what the police narrated. However, the same source had seen them a day before in the same building carrying two sacks. When he tried asking them about it, they said it was nothing and just walked off.

The reporter spoke with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) General Secretary Anurag Saxena as well. He shed some light on these fire incidents and how the flouted rules were much more than visible to a common person. He further said, “A building that was on the main road, a place visible to the authorities, how did it not have a fire clearance? The incident was nothing but a result of an incompetent authority.”

The industrial areas of Delhi have often been exposed to such terrible accidents but the labour departments seem to have made negligible amends to prevent the same.

“The behaviour meted out to us by the police is different from what it used to be earlier”

All the families that NewsClick spoke to had a similar tale about the police officials to narrate. “When the incident took place, they used to come to us asking our whereabouts and if the case was running well or not. The SHO even asked us if the compensation hearing was going well or not,” narrated Rajesh, the father who lost his two girls.

The victim’s loved ones feel that they were important only until they made it to the headlines. Eight months down the road, they have been left to suffer with the death of their beloved kid, sister or wife- an irreparable loss.

In these times of grief, the families are acting as each other's support system. Each stands for the other and is just a call away. They attend all the Court sessions together and the only sense of solidarity left is the one that they have amongst themselves.