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Ansals file Rs 65.5 million suit against Delhi Vidyut Board for Uphaar fire tragedy

Leading building contractors and real estate developers Ansals, who own Uphaar cinema, have filed a Rs 65.5 million damages suit against the Delhi Vidyut Board for the June 13, 1997 fire tragedy in which 59 people perished and over 104 here injured.

''It was not the Uphaar cinema transformer but the DVB's transformer that caught fire and caused the tragedy. The gross negligence by the DVB resulted in grave loss of human lives and the DVB alone is the cause.''

The petition by Ansals Theatres and Clubotels Limited came up at the Delhi High Court five months after the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy sought compensation totalling Rs 1.22 billion for the relatives of victims. The court has said it will go into the merits for the quantum of compensation.

The Ansals said the DVB insisted on installing a 500 KVA transformer for Green Park area in South Delhi with one of 750 KVA when Uphaar cinema applied for sanction of electric load in 1973.

Later, it replaced it with a 1,000 KVA transformer, which seemingly exceeded the rated capacity. The maintenance was also improper.

At 7 am on June 13, 1997, a cinema security guard noticed sparking and DVB authorities were intimated. The officials started working on LT cable connections of the transformer to restore electricity to the colony -- not to the cinema -- which they did by 11.30 am.

Around 3 pm, the matinee show of the film Border was being exhibited at Uphaar cinema. During the show, the DVB again resorted to load shedding from 3.55 to 4.55 pm as a result of which the cinema used the generator. When the high tension supply was restored, there was trouble again in the DVB transformer, the petition said.

The fire originated in the transformer and spread further with the leaking and burning oil flowing out of DVB premises in many directions. As a result of oil fire, toxic smoke was generated which travelled upward through the stairwells.

It was 10 minutes later at 5.05 pm that the electricity supply was discontinued. It took 600 seconds for tripping of the HT supply, which should have normally taken less than one second.

Had the low tension cable box been in place, the defective cable would not have fallen on the cooling fin of transformer. The resulting electric arc punctured the transformer fin due to which the oil began to leak. Also, the HT protection was missing, the petition said.

Had it been in place, the HT electric supply would have discontinued forthwith and not fuelled the fire for 10 minutes.

''The DVB did not exercise even the bare minimum care and caution in installation, maintenance and upkeep of their transformer and their premises. They did not one but several wrongs,'' the Ansals said.

''The gross negligence on DVB's part resulted in the loss of human lives and they are liable for damages from the spread of fire which originated from its equipment and premises,'' they said.

UNI

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