NEW DELHI: Wearing his uniform, Assistant Sub-Inspector Balluram Baliyan sat outside the mortuary at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital on Thursday afternoon to collect the body of his 27-year-old son who died in harness earlier in the day. “He left us alone,” he wailed as he mourned for his son, Amit. Balluram was on duty when the fire office informed him about his son having been trapped in debris at the building that crumbled due to blasts following a massive fire.
He reached Okaya Godown in Mundka at 10 am and stayed there, worrying about his son’s condition, till he was finally rescued around 1 pm. He went in the ambulance to the hospital and waited outside the Intensive Care Unit where his elder son succumbed to injuries. Howling, he went to the mortuary, where his son’s postmortem was conducted.
“Abhi abhi shaadi huyi thi uski (He married recently),” he sobbed. Amit is survived by his parents, his wife, two elder sisters and a brother. The family hails from Mundbhar in Muzaffarnagar. His wife Shivani is serving as a constable in UP Police and is posted in Ghaziabad. His neighbours and friends, who stood in solidarity with his father at the mortuary, said that Amit got married about 10 months back. Amit was one of the 500 men recruited by fire department last year.
He will be paid tribute at the Rohini fire office institute where he underwent training. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore, saying he laid down his life while serving the people of Delhi. “Nothing can bring back a loved one lost, but Delhi government will provide his family with `1 crore as financial assistance. This is the least we can do as a society,” Kejriwal tweeted.