BENGALURU: Pinned back against a grill, all she could do was watch the flames of death leaping up to consume her... It was over in minutes, a soul-scarring scene for those below, watching helplessly. All that was left was a sooty cage of a balcony and a frozen image of death. Now, after the fire has been doused, looking at the accident coldly and clinically, the prime cause appears to be human error. Besides stupidity. As was the case with the Carlton Towers blaze, where escape routes were shut off by a short-sighted management, leaving people trapped and helpless.
The tendency of citizens to play fast and loose with civic laws, and the BBMP’s propensity to look the other way has been playing havoc with Bengaluru city. Post-haste, the BBMP has reminded citizens that balconies are not meant to be shuttered. Often, the balcony is greedily included into the living area to add a few sqft of space, or closed for security reasons, laws be damned.
I often wonder at our city and denizens’ magnanimous ‘swalpa adjust maadi’ attitude. Literally translated in such cases, it means ‘I won’t interfere in your business, you don’t interfere in mine’. In fact, I spent a good nine years battling this attitude when a neighbour put up a brand-new structure on his site, within touching distance and violating every rule in the book. It was too close for comfort — it blocked out light and air, and gave us a window view into each other’s lives. And God forbid, if a fire were to break out, we would cheerfully perish together. So we went to court.
The battle wasn’t easy, and it taught me many life lessons, primarily that lawyers, judges, BBMP officials, and the whole shebang, could be bought. Next step: High Court. A stay order, and later, a demolition order. But my neighbour sought mercy, and time, and was back dipping into his bag of tricks to keep his structure intact, including getting a fake plan. Our system allows it, and as they say, the law can be an ass.
The neighbour then began employing diplomatic tactics, starting with talks, offers of compensation, tapping political worthies as a show of influence and even involving religious heads. I just dug my heels in further and for my pains, locally I gained the reputation of being a bit insane. Well, I did win the war, with the help of a few good men — two IAS officers who didn’t allow money to talk — a sensible judge, besides a conviction in the law and truth, and (I shamelessly admit!) my journalist tag. A press card opens many doors and answers many questions. So nine years later, the structure survived but with many alterations. Justice was only partly done, but maybe, we can still escape a fire and other such accidents.